


Toeing the Line

by whimsicalwombat



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: AU Fic, F/M, I'm useless at tagging these things ok, Saram teenselves, Sort Of, it's more the 'falling in love as kiddos' trope, non linear timing, not the 'high school AU' it sounds like, so the same personality is there but they're not so scarred, so this is kind of like a reversed version of my Roses fic, they're younger and less traumatised, you'll get the idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-01-09 16:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12280407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalwombat/pseuds/whimsicalwombat
Summary: AU: Samar's parents escaped their deaths after receiving early warning that someone was after them, and they decide to move their family to the States instead.In their new American hometown, Samar befriends the sweet but quiet boy who lives next door, and she becomes the star of her school's soccer team... Until the unusual friendship tips all the usual school cafeteria cliques on their heads.





	1. Curiosities and Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> So this is going to be a little like one of my earlier fics 'Behind the Rose Covered Fence'. If you haven't read that one, it's basically little Aram growing up in Iran next door to little Samar and they're got a 'present' storyline where they're 18 interspersed with snippets from their childhood. This is kind of similar, except this time around it's little Samar growing up next door to little Aram in Delaware, and I think the flashback bits will actually be in order this time, plus they have a completely different dilemma to solve. You'll get the idea. 
> 
> If you enjoy it, please comment or kudos.

**_Late April 1998_ **

Samar awoke with a jump. Her vision was fuzzy, and her head felt like it was wrapped in cotton wool. She blinked, gazing bleary-eyed and dazed around the room, trying to figure out where she was. For starters, she was on a hard, dusty floor... And it was cold. She gave an involuntary shiver, her prom dress doing little to warm her slim frame. Slowly but surely, the world came back into focus, and her attention snapped immediately to the second body crumpled on the floor beside her.  

'Aram,' she gasped, clambering across the foot or two of floor space between them. Samar shook his shoulder, trying to rouse him.  
'Mmmm...' Aram's eyes flickered as he mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.    
_'Aram.'_   Samar shook his shoulder again, a little harder this time. 'Wake up.' Aram's eyes snapped open. He slowly sat up, and stared blankly around the room for a moment, just as fuzzy as she had been minutes earlier.    
'Huh?' He blinked again, forcing the sight of metal shelving, plastic bottle and buckets, and a pile of mops in the corner, back into view. 'Are we in the janitor's room or something?' His attention rounded back to Samar; her dress was dirty from having woken up on the dusty floor, but otherwise she seemed just as well put together as she had been in the last moment he could remember. Well, mostly. Her dress wasn't torn, her simple, black heels were still on, and her dark curls were still neatly arranged in that sort of half-up-half-down style that Aram loved just as much as he didn't understand it. In his own case, his suit was dusty but not at all too badly crumpled.

They had been thrown into the janitor's room, but without too much of a tussle beforehand, it seemed.  

'Looks like it,' Samar murmured. She paused for that one extra second it took to reassure herself that he was awake and functioning again, before warily picking herself up off the floor. It took all of two steps to reach the door across from them and tug on the handle... Only for it not to budge in the slightest. 'The door's locked, and from the other side too,' she added. Aram jumped back up onto his own feet, now panning his gaze around the room as she was, looking for a way out. 'There's no window either,' Samar noted, echoing his thoughts, 'and once prom's over, the school is going to be empty all weekend.'

Aram met her gaze, both of them not entirely sure what to make of the situation besides feeling a certain dread that was quickly digging its way into the pits of both of their stomachs.  

The last thing either of them remembered was enjoying dancing together, lost in the bliss of their moment to the point that it felt like they were the only ones in the world before the song came to its end and Aram scurried off to get them both some water. Everything before that was burned into Aram's brain; from the jitters he had felt in the short walk next door from his home to hers, the feeling of being utterly gobsmacked and speechless at how beautiful she looked when she entered the living room where he had been waiting for her before they could be on their way and finally, to the overwhelming sensation of her soft lips on his for the first time when she had stopped him just shy of the school's entrance but after his father had already driven away, leaving them there. In those moments, just like whilst dancing, they were the only two in the world. Now, they were alone once again, but not at all in a situation that was anywhere near as pleasant.  

'Surely, both our parents will notice when we don't come home...' Aram bit his lip as he trailed off. His voice wavered, as if it wasn't so much a statement of fact, or even a question but rather, a struggled attempt at reassuring himself as well as her. With no door, no window, and nobody outside the room to hear them if they called out, there was nothing they could do except wait for somebody to notice they were gone and come looking for them. Samar took the two steps back across the room towards him, giving another involuntary shiver that this time, caught Aram's eye. Furrowing his brow  in concern, he slipped off his jacket in an instant, wrapping it quickly around her shoulders that were otherwise covered only by dress straps. For a second she glanced at him, opening her mouth as if to protest that it wasn't necessary, but Aram simply tilted his head, giving her that look of gentle skepticism that he always pulled when she was being stubborn about something. He at least, had a collared, long sleeved shirt and a waistcoat. Though still not enough to stave off the cold entirely, it at least took the edge off... Something, that Samar's mere dress straps most certainly did not.    
'The question is...' She muttered, sinking into the arms that Aram wrapped around her and letting out a deep sigh, 'how long is it going to take them to find us?'  
'That, and...' Aram trailed off for a second, burying his face in her hair and pressing a slow kiss to the top of her head. 'How did we get stuck in here in the first place?'

If only they could remember... _All_ the details of how they had reached that point.  

/*/*/*/*

**_Early August 1991_ **

Aram had never been good at pretending he wasn't watching or listening to something if he was. Whether it was a case of eavesdropping on a simple conversation his parents might have been having about his grades in the next room, strangers at his favourite diner, or other kids in his class at school, it didn't matter. The sheepish guilt of knowing he was doing something he shouldn't, always showed both on his face and in his awkwardly shuffling feet.  

In this case, at least, the latter wasn't so much of an issue. The new neighbours moving in next door couldn't see his shifting feet from his position, watching them from his bedroom window on the second floor of his own home. It was probably far more obvious that he was watching them if they looked up, and spotted him failing to hide behind the curtain but to his relief, they were otherwise distracted by the moving truck, and all the boxes.  

It seemed to be a young family. Two parents with two kids; a girl who seemed close in age to himself, and a slightly younger boy. It was the noise of the boy running and gleefully kicking a ball around on the grass that had caught Aram's attention initially, but once Aram peered out the window, the younger boy didn't keep a hold of his attention for long. At first, the overall family itself, once he saw them, sparked his curiosity. In a small town in Delaware he rarely saw people who were Middle Eastern like his own family, but there they were nonetheless. Next, as Aram watched them, it was the girl who caught his eye. She was considerably less boisterous than her brother, gazing around at her new surroundings with a curious but wary eye that almost seemed too contemplative for someone so young. It wasn't so much that she seemed scared or shy but rather, calculating as if she was quietly and thoughtfully finding her feel for the place before passing judgement. Aram broke into a soft smile as he watched her; only her little brother tugging at her sleeves and seemingly asking her to play with him, made the girl's lip quirk up in affectionate amusement. She chased after him across the grass, finally grinning as she caught the ball from him and went running in the opposite direction again.

And that was what made Aram's stomach flip. It had registered somewhere in the back of his mind that the girl was pretty, but once she smiled... Aram almost lost track of how long he sat there watching them go in and out of the house, moving boxes of belongings as well as furniture that seemed all too new. He was lost in that smile, and in the way those dark curls were wild whether the girl was running across the grass or not.

'Aram,' his mother's voice floating down the hallway towards him, made Aram jump. He swivelled on the spot, but was otherwise frozen there, unable to dart across the room, wipe the guilty look from his face, and make it look like he hadn't been watching at all. His mother appeared in the doorway to his room, staring in at him with a somewhat bemused expression. 'We have new neighbours,' she observed. Her tone was knowing but gentle, like she wasn't informing him of the fact but rather, that she knew he already knew, and his antics amused her as they always did. 'Why don't you come down with me and meet them?'

Aram nodded quickly, not that he felt like he had much of a choice. If anything, all he felt was that guilty sensation of having been caught, but he scurried along after his mother nonetheless –out of his room, down the hallway and down the stairs to where his father was waiting for them, before all three headed out the front door and across the garden to the fence they now shared with the new family moving in. The parents, only a little younger than his own, looked up at them crossing the garden towards them, and broke into wide smiles. Aram missed most of what was said between them, only barely registering in the back of his mind that somewhere along the way, there was a switch from English to Farsi –his parents' native tongue and that, it seemed, of the new neighbours too. They seemed more than friendly enough and relieved too, that they were so close by others from their homeland... But Aram's attention remained lingering on the two children behind them. He missed both sets of parents introducing themselves to one another, and even introducing their respective children... Until it was his turn.

'This is our son, Aram.' This time it was his father's voice who jolted him from his mind's wanderings and he jumped, shifting his gaze immediately to his father's soft, amused grin, and then to the warm smiles on the faces of both adult neighbours. 'He's a little shy,' his father added at his lack of verbal response, and both neighbour parents let out knowing nods. The man stifled a soft chuckle –which really, was only half reassuring considering the fact that he had felt the need to chuckle in the first place- but the woman's warm smile only widened. Her eyes crinkled with affection and reached behind her, as if to introduce him to her own children.

'Hi,' the little boy burst out, before his mother could even speak. He grinned, eagerly bouncing forwards on the balls of his feet and peering up at Aram. Aram hesitated; he hadn't been listening to either set of parents when the new neighbours had said their children's names.    
'Shahin is not quite so shy,' the woman chuckled, tousling her son's hair.    
'I'm eight,' Shahin announced, beaming up at him, 'how old are you?' Again, Aram hesitated. The boy was speaking Farsi too –a language that for Aram, was nowhere near as fluent as his parents. They mostly spoke English at home, and though Aram had picked up the basics of their native tongue from listening to them when they didn't, his own skills didn't extend much beyond that.    
'I'm eleven,' he replied, voice wavering. For a second, he wondered if he had even said that simple sentence correctly, but his parents beamed at him, as did Shahin's. However, Aram's gaze wasn't on any of them. In fact, it wasn't even on Shahin. His attention was back to the girl, just behind her brother, who now stared back at him not with the idle politeness of before, but with a distinct intensity. He had caught her attention now too.    
'Oh,' her father began, glancing quickly back and forth between his daughter and Aram, 'so is Samar.'

 _Samar._ So _that_ was her name.  

Aram shot her a shy smile.  

Samar's lip twitched and she slowly smiled back.  

/*/*/*/*

**_Late April 1998_ **

'Do you think they've started looking for us yet?' The small janitor's room was eerily quiet without their voices, but the small talk was difficult. It was getting colder, they were both tired, and there was little to say that they hadn't already told each other before. They shared everything with one another, and had done for some time. Rarely did a thought pass through either mind without being told to the other as quickly as possible. Wondering aloud about how they had ended up in the room had just as quickly been passed between them; by now, they had been conscious for nearly half an hour, each and every one of their few theories had been dismissed, and they had given up on the topic, leaving a weary silence to fall between them instead. They sat in the corner of the room, backs leaning against one of the few sections of wall not occupied by floor to ceiling shelving for cleaning products. Aram had his knees up, with one arm wrapped loosely around them, and the other arm wrapped less loosely around Samar in the huddle for warmth and reassurance. She was curled into his side, still wrapped in his jacket, with her head resting on his shoulder, and her eyes flickering in the attempt to keep them open... And then she asked that question. The question, that Aram had been silently asking himself and that he wasn't sure if he should give voice to.  

'We were supposed to be home by midnight,' he murmured back, though once again, the tone was one of trying to convince himself as well as her. Aram gave a shiver, and Samar curled into his side a little closer. It wasn't cold enough that that would freeze to death, but it was certainly cold enough that now that as they spoke, the breath of their words was visible in the air in front of them. Aram furrowed his brow, trying to think back to earlier that night; 'last I remember checking the time it was heading towards ten-' he paused, glancing at Samar, and she nodded back in agreement '-and who knows how long we were stuck in here before we woke up. They would have to have started _wondering_ at least.'  

Aram's gaze flickered to his wrist, internally berating himself for the choice to go the rare occasion without a watch, simply because it had clunked together too much with the cufflinks his father had insisted he wear as part of his prom suit. Only the clock on the wall not far from the dancefloor had been able to give him any indication of what time it was...

...But for all they knew, that could have been _hours_ ago.   


	2. Reflections and Impressions

**_Late April 1998_ **

Between the shock and adrenaline rush of waking up locked in a janitor's room, followed by the setting in of the cold, the fatigue, and then finally the stomach rumbling, Samar and Aram were struggling to keep their eyes open. Both began to feel that sensation of the cotton wool clouds around their heads again as their adrenaline fuelled heart rates slowed back to normal once more –and it wasn't hard for either of them, despite the dopiness, to wonder how they had ended up unconscious in the first place given the distinct lack of headache that would have occurred if they had been  _ physically _ knocked out.  

The hours went on. All sense of time passing was distorted. At varying points they each fell asleep and woke up again, still huddled together in that corner of the room.  

When Samar's eyes flickered open again, she shifted her head on Aram's shoulder to gaze up at him, bleary-eyed. He was awake, but staring into space while his mind apparently wandered elsewhere. His arm remained wrapped around her, and Samar reached upwards, resting her hand along his cheek. Aram jumped at the sudden touch, but he broke into a soft smile as he glanced down and saw her awake once more.  

'It seems even quieter now,' Samar murmured. It was true; the janitor's room wasn't soundproofed, but it also wasn't all that close to the dancefloor in the gym. At first, from the room, they had been able to hear the sound of the music from the gym ever so faintly –the only indication they had to know that they were still on the school grounds somewhere, even if they were still far away enough across the grounds that nobody would hear them if they tried calling out for help- but now not even that faint sound trickled through the air. Samar reached up again, this time pressing a slow kiss to Aram's cheek until it flushed pink. 

For as long as he had loved her, he was still getting used to that.  

'Do you remember our first day of middle school?' Samar spoke again, her eyes crinkling in amusement at the flash of pink shadow on Aram's face.    
'You mean...' Aram stifled a chuckle. 'When you got stuck with me as your buddy in class because you were the new kid in town, or when you got stuck with me following you home because we had to walk the same way?' Samar simply rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.    
'I was going to say it was the day  _ you _ got stuck with _ me _ tipping your life upside down,' she muttered back. Aram gave a tiny grin, dotting a kiss of his own to the top of her head as he replied;    
'That's not how I remember it.' 

/*/*/*/* 

**September 1991**

Somehow, when his first math class of his first day of middle school was interrupted, Aram was both surprised... And also not. There was the principal standing in the doorway, with Samar standing to her side and a little behind. Aram had expected that he would see her around; there was only one public middle school and one private middle school in the town, and both were small. Samar was also the same age, and so they should have been in the same grade. If anything, Aram had expected to share at least half his classes with his new neighbour, but so far he hadn't seen her at all that day until now.  

But finally, there she was. 

His parents and hers had spoken to each other regularly over the fence in the month and a half or so since the latter had moved in. Aram hadn't spoken to Samar and Shahin nearly as much, besides polite greetings if their respective parents dragged them into the conversation, but he had picked up plenty of information from listening in to the adults. 

There was a reason all their furniture had looked new –because it  _ was. _ It was their first home in the States, after having to hurriedly pack up everything and leave Iran due to a threat against their lives. Samar's parents –named Nasrin and Arash, Aram had learned- were outspoken against the regime and had earned themselves powerful enemies... Until it was no longer safe for them and their children to stay. And so, there they were. Their English was broken, but they were determined to perfect it as soon as possible, and their plan was for both Samar and Shahin to immediately start school in the grades they were supposed to be in at their age, in the hope that they would catch up quickly too. 

The class teacher and the principal spoke quietly amongst themselves for a moment, gesturing discreetly at Samar, then Aram, and back and forth a few times more. Aram could barely hear what they were saying, with his classmates taking the intrusion as an indicator that they could all talk amongst themselves and drown the words out, but he did catch the general idea. Next, the principal gave a short nod, turned on heels and left them there, with the teacher now prompting Samar quickly towards him. Aram's eyes went wide at the order to stay by her side and show her around the school; it was his first day of middle school too. He barely knew the layout of the place any better than she did. 

But on the other hand, he  _ did _ know the other kids. He had gone to elementary school with the overwhelming majority of them. He knew who was friends with whom, who was nice and who to stay away from -all things that Samar didn't know. 

She stared at the students in the class as she passed between them moving towards his desk, gritting her teeth in an effort to fight back the nerves. Her fingers absentmindedly fidgeted with the end of one long sleeve, tugging it down over her palm as she watched the collection of boys and girls chattering amongst themselves all too comfortably. 

Samar wasn't used to sharing a classroom with boys, let alone being able to interact so freely with any of them besides her brother.  

She also wasn't used to the shorts, the summery tank tops and the strappy, flowy dresses that the girls wore, seemingly without a care in the world.  

In a honesty, Samar liked seeing that in this new country, girls had all the freedoms that she had only ever dreamed of before –that they could do, and say, and wear whatever they wanted to... But it also made her nervous. She was used to dressing more modestly out of sheer necessity, and the sensation of not doing so now was going to take some getting used to -which, at just eleven years old, wasn't exactly the easiest of adjustments. Now, quietly taking her seat beside Aram, she'd had a few weeks to get used to no longer needing to wear her headscarf if she didn't want to, but still Samar couldn't quite bring herself to go as far as shorts and a tank top. She was determined to get there, but it was just going to take time. In the meantime, she had her jeans and her long sleeved shirt, earning herself uncomfortable, almost suspicious glances from her new classmates. 

Well, all of them but one. Aram, by contrast, simply shot her his usual, shy smile.  

Samar wasn't entirely sure what to make of him; ever since she had moved in next door he had seemed quiet, and cautious to speak to her. She wasn't sure if that was his attempt at being polite, or if he was simply like the other boys who had turned their noses up at her as they had walked past her in the garden of her old home. Regardless, he kept up that shy smile and did exactly as the teacher had ordered him to and then some; he showed her around the school as best he could, he insisted –albeit awkwardly- that she not sit alone in the cafeteria at lunchtime, and when she struggled with some of the specific terminology in science class, he tried desperately to translate.  

After all that, he certainly seemed nice enough. He was smart too, Samar noticed that within moments of their math class resuming –to the point that he fidgeted in his seat after finishing his work in half the time of everyone else, bored with being light years ahead of their classmates, and he tried not to keep peeking at her worksheet to see if she was keeping up. She was indeed keeping up, but that was beside the point. If anything, what was worse was that the rest of the students in the class noticed it too, and made no attempt to hide their endless eye rolling at him which in turn, of course, only made Aram fidget awkwardly in his seat even more.  

He was, as he half-heartedly tried to explain to her in the short walk between math and English class, the resident nerd of their grade.  

From Samar's point of view, it didn’t make sense that being smart and good with numbers could possibly be something upon which others judged you harshly but apparently, that was how it was. It was those who were good at sports who garnered all the admiration, he explained, and that was only insult to injury, for Aram, with his gangly limbs, was hopeless at sports.  

By the end of her first school day, Samar felt like her brain was boggled with the overload of information. Between everything her teachers insisted she learn to catch up, and everything Aram had desperately tried to explain to her over the course of the day about how it all worked, all Samar wanted was to go home to the peace and quiet.  

That was of course, until she started walking home. She rounded the block from the school, turning into what was an immediately quieter street... Until the sound of scurrying footsteps crept up behind her.  

'Samar.' She turned instantly at the sound of the familiar voice over the footsteps, spotting Aram jogging in the attempt to catch up with her. His run was as awkward as he was, with his gangly limbs flying around everywhere, and making her lip quirk up in amusement. 'Do you, uh, mind if I walk with you?' He asked, almost breathlessly. Aram shuffled on his feet, bowing his head slightly before she could even open her mouth to answer as if he already regretted asking, and Samar's brow furrowed; as sweet as he had been to her all day, it really seemed that Aram didn't have that many friends. The rest of their classmates judged him just as they did her –because he was different.  

And his shyness did absolutely nothing to help. 

Samar's lip quirked up again. They had to walk the same way anyway, so they may as well stick together and actually get to know one another. 

'Sure,' she replied softly. Aram's head snapped up and he beamed, almost as if he didn't quite believe it.  

Samar tried –and failed- to hold back a soft laugh at the boy in front of her with the mess of dark hair that seemed to point out in seven different directions, gesturing for him to walk along beside her. He did so, alternating between chattering eagerly at a rate of a hundred miles an hour and hurriedly stopping, worried that he wasn't letting her get a word in edgewise.  

_ That _ was the side of him she was delighted to finally see.  

/*/*/*/* 

**_Late April 1998_ **

'How do you remember it then?' Aram chuckled through a stifled yawn. Still tucked against his side, Samar gave a nonchalant shrug.   
'You were different from the other kids,' she softly explained, 'you smiled, and you seemed to understand. You didn't judge me when I walked in like the others did.' Her eyes darted sideways, thinking back to all those years earlier. 'For a while there, you were my only friend.'   
'Not for  _ too _ long,' Aram murmured back, 'the soccer team found you pretty fast.' By contrast, he was pretty sure that  _ she _ had definitely been _ his _ only friend, but Samar shook her head knowingly.    
'Only because you were there for me before that PE class,' she insisted. Aram bowed his head, still not quite believing it, but kissed her cheek anyway.    
'You would have been just fine without me,' he mused.  

/*/*/*/* 

**_October 1991_ **

'Hey.' Samar turned where she stood just shy of the entrance to the gym, at the sound of Aram's greeting. He scurried up to her; it was their usual meeting spot between changing into the PE gear in their respective change rooms on opposite sides of the gym, and finally walking into the class together. He paused, furrowing his brow; something was different. 'No long sleeves today?' Normally, Samar had a separate long sleeved shirt that she wore under her gym shirt. Once or twice by now, she had worn capri length pants to school rather than jeans, and she was gradually becoming used to the new dress code she was allowed to wear, but her shirt sleeves had firmly remained long... Until now. Samar shifted on the spot, gritting her teeth. Her shoulders were tensed, like she wasn't at all comfortable with the situation.  

She glanced sideways, eyeing a few of their classmates strolling past them into the gym without taking any notice of her, before ducking her head to murmur to Aram; 

'I forgot to bring my other shirt...' Aram winced. It wasn't her choice but rather, a situation she was stuck with... And if anything, she seemed to be pulling one arm in closer to herself than the other, as if she was shielding it from view.    
'You ok?' He asked slowly, eyeing that arm and the other hand hovering protectively over it. 'What happened to your arm?'   
'Oh, nothing,' Samar said quickly, trying to shake off her frustration at herself. But, Aram stayed quiet. He held her gaze, his eyes gently questioning for the truth. Already, they had established their routine at school and already, they had become protective of each other too. Samar hesitated, but ultimately gave in; 'there was an accident at the market near our old house a few years ago,' she slowly began, 'two men were arguing over something and started fighting just as we went past them-' she paused, just long enough to uncover that small section of her arm that her hand had been hiding, revealing a thin scar running across in a jagged line, perhaps three or four inches long and faded with time '-one started waving a knife around and I got caught in the middle.' 

Aram's face crumpled, miserable at just the thought of her having been hurt. 

'And the scar bothers you?' He asked softly. Samar hesitated, but ultimately shook her head.    
'No,' she murmured, then tipped her head towards another small group of their classmates trickling past them into the gym, 'but it's not like  _ they _ need yet another reason to stare at me.' She was used to her scar by now, but she certainly wasn't used to the staring. It bothered her every time. Aram however, simply smiled.    
'They won't,' he quipped, 'not for that.' Samar furrowed her brow, opening her mouth to protest, but then faltered. Ever so discreetly, Aram silently pointed out various classmates, each with their own small scars or injuries that nobody else batted an eyelid at. 'Just go in and be you,' he added, breaking into a tiny grin, 'I think we're supposed to be playing soccer today, and you're good at that, right?' Samar nodded, albeit warily. 'Make them stare at you for that.'  

For all his shyness and awkwardness, and for all the times that Samar couldn't decide if it was endearing or annoying... The way he never judged her, and the way he always seemed to  _ care _ unequivocally, couldn't help but make her lip twitch with the tiniest hint of a grateful smile.  

Not to mention, he wasn't wrong. While she had been only slightly above average in PE until then, the endless hours of playing soccer with her brother showed dramatically in class that day, earning her a few intrigued, raised eyebrows from the girls in the class that Aram knew had been keen soccer players even back in their elementary years. 

But, while Samar had their eye... Only he had hers. Their classmates cheered with every goal that she kicked, and jeered with every time he tripped over his own feet, but each time either way she met his eye and even from the other side of the gym she shot him that tiny smile.  

/*/*/*/* 

**_Late April 1998_ **

Aram stifled another yawn, and Samar's eyes flickered with exhaustion. With no window or other source of natural light to give them any indication of hours or days passing, it felt like they had been trapped in that tiny room forever. Their stomachs rumbled, and their mouths were dry. Aram was fairly certain that if nothing else, they were well into the stages of dehydration by now. With her head back on his shoulder, Samar was already slipping quickly back into slumber, and it only took a few minutes more of listening to her slowed breathing before Aram's eyes too, fell softly closed.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up; 'Rushing and Balancing'.
> 
> How's everyone enjoying this one so far? :)


	3. Rushing and Balancing

**_Late April 1998_ **

The next time Samar awoke, it was to a bright, overhead light glaring into her eyes, and a few more flashing red and blue further ahead. She pushed herself up to sitting, instinctively fighting off the arms that leapt to pull her back without even taking the second to realise who they belonged to. It took her a moment for it to even register in her brain where she was.

In the back of an ambulance.  

Her head swivelled around, seeing but not really taking in the presence of both her parents and the two paramedics around her, and the distinct _absence_ of Aram.  

Samar tried to push herself off the gurney, searching for him, but the arms of her father and the paramedics pulled her back yet again.  

'Aram,' she gasped, 'where is he?' Her heart pounded in her chest, and she craned her neck to stretch as far as she could from her father's gentle grasp, still trying to see out of the back of that ambulance.  
'He's ok,' her father murmured back, 'Samar, he's ok. We found you both, just breathe.' The grasp on her arm shifted to arms wrapped around her, holding her close. Her head fell to rest against her father's chest for a moment as he kissed the top of her head. Behind her, her mother rubbed gentle circles into her back, both of them trying to calm her adrenaline rush before it spiralled too out of hand... But it didn't stop her from shaking. Samar's head was pounded like someone was belting out a drum solo inside her brain. Everything felt fuzzy –the combination of hunger and exhaustion- and her mouth still felt dry. The only thing clear in her head was that desperate rush to see for herself where Aram was.  

She pushed back against her parents' grasp once more, finally managing to disentangle herself from them and lurch off the gurney the second she felt the paramedics remove the drip from her arm. Both parents jumped at her sudden movement, reaching out to stop her, but Samar was too quick; she jumped the step off the back of the ambulance, breaking into a run despite the pounding headache. Everything was still fuzzy. There was a small crowd outside the ambulance that seemed to be parked just outside of the school; students, teachers, and other parents all clamouring over whatever they thought was going on. Samar spun around on the spot once, twice in the crowd, searching for him... Until her eyes landed on a second ambulance just on the opposite side of the small crowd from hers. She broke into that run once more, before half of the crowd had even realised that it was her pushing her way through them. Samar paid no shred of attention to them calling after her; she had spent years trying to balance her friendship with Aram with what every other student in the school thought of each of them but now, rushing between ambulances, Samar had no qualms about what anybody else thought.  

All she wanted was to make sure Aram was ok.  

/*/*/*/*

**_Early November 1992_ **

The light breeze was gentle against Aram's skin; it wasn't too hot, nor too cold, and the sun was shining. He sat on the far edge of the field behind the school where Samar and the rest of the school's girls soccer team practiced twice a week after the day's classes. Aram didn't sit there every week, but every so often he enjoyed being out there in the sunshine, doing his homework on the grass instead of at home for once, while he watched Samar play. Just her skills from playing in the backyard with Shahin had been more than enough to quickly earn her a place on the team, but ever since having a proper coach as well Samar had soared. They were only a couple of months into seventh grade now and yet, despite being one of the youngest on the team, Samar was already –and inarguably- one of its stars.  

Aram went to all her matches. He didn't have to, and he still had a limited grasp of the rules of the game, but he loved watching her play and he couldn't help but beam in delighted pride every time Samar expertly stole the ball from the feet of the other team and went sprinting with it –all with such utmost precision and agility that sometimes it even took a split second for the opposing players to realise she had done it at all. He was even prouder still, any time she scored a goal.  

Aram kept back when he watched her train though, determined to stay out of the way of everyone else. There was a delicate line that Samar had to toe now, balancing their friendship with the need to be part of the team of girls who had always looked down at him and laughed him off. None of Samar's teammates understood why she was friends with him, 'the little dork' as they called him, but Samar was adamant; Aram was her best friend and no matter how strange her teammates thought it was, and she was going to stick by him.  

And so they left it at that.

But that didn't make it easy. Samar could feel their eyes judging her any time she chose to sit with him in the school cafeteria rather than them. She refused to join in any time they banded together to make fun of the other, less athletically talented kids in PE class, but at the same time she had to be careful not to isolate herself from her teammates. She loved soccer desperately, but if she had any hope of not just staying on the team, but being able to work well with her teammates in games as well, she had to stay on their good side.  

She was caught in the middle, and so on the outer edge Aram stayed, rather than on the benches with everyone else who watched them train, just to try and limit any potential disruption of that balance.  

He wasn't unconvinced that he should simply remove himself from the dilemma, suggesting to Samar that she should sit with her team at lunch time rather than feel obligated to sit with him, but Samar was having none of it. She insisted that he had been her friend first, and that the soccer team wouldn't have even looked at her twice if not for her skills, and so there was no way she was going to walk away from him just to fit in with the girls who had little interest in her beside the fact that she helped them win matches.  

She was stubborn like that, and never one to do what others claimed was 'cool' rather than what _she_ thought was right.  

And every time after training that Aram was there, Samar stayed back just long enough afterwards to chat with the other players and keep her firm place on the team, before heading straight for him –face flushed and hair sweaty and flying everywhere, but with a wide smile on her face all the same.  

'Hey,' Aram softly greeted her. He grinned as he slipped his book into his backpack and quickly jumped to his feet. 'Ready to go?' In a flash, he pulled his water bottle from his backpack and handed it over –and Samar grasped it, tipping back her head and guzzling from it eagerly.    
'Yep,' she gasped back, between gulps. Aram couldn't help but chuckle softly; it made no difference how long Samar had now been in the team. She still somehow managed to guzzle her way through her own water bottle during practice, then wind up with none left by the time it finished. The first time Aram had tried to share his own with her after practice, Samar had eyed it longingly but ultimately turned it down, insisting that she should know better... But Aram had insisted just as much that she should take his anyway –after all, _he_ wasn't thirsty- until it became routine. 'You know you don't have to come and watch, right?' Samar spoke again, eyeing him over the water bottle.    
'I know.' Aram sheepishly bowed his head, failing to hide a tiny grin; he loved watching her play, and he knew she loved that he did it.    
'And you don't have to buy me ice cream,' she added. She glanced guiltily at the water bottle still in her hand, noting that once _again_ _,_ it was now empty, before just as sheepishly handing it back. Aram slipped it back into his backpack, gesturing forwards for them to start walking.    
'But I want to,' he quipped in response.    
'Right now?' Samar shot him a look -amused but disbelieving. 'But I'm all sweaty and gross after soccer.'  
'You're not gross,' Aram immediately began to protest. He stopped himself, shuffling awkwardly on his feet as they walked for a moment before taking a breath and glancing up again. 'You're beautiful,' he said softly. His voice wavered and Aram winced. His cheeks flushed bright red with embarrassment at the fact he had let himself say it... Until a tiny smile tugged at the corners of Samar's lips and her cheeks flushed with the faintest hint of pink too. 'And,' Aram hurriedly tried to continue in the attempt to shake off both of their embarrassment, 'after soccer is the best time for ice cream because it'll cool you down, and-' he paused, unable to stop himself laughing at the sound of her belly suddenly rumbling loudly, interrupting him '-you're hungry.'  

Samar rolled her eyes at her stomach with as much disdain as she could muster, making Aram laugh all the more so. It only lasted a moment however, before Samar grinned back, finally nodding her head in agreement to the plan.  

Unlike the water bottle and the watching her play, the ice cream was far less their usual routine, but in this instance Aram had the idea stuck in his head of late that he wanted to be a gentleman and go on a date –or at least, the innocent and childish understanding of what a date was that a barely-turned-thirteen year old had. Between always seeing how sweet his parents were to each other, catching part of some romantic-comedy movie that his mother had been watching on television, and then asking his father a hundred and one questions about it and relationships in general afterwards, Aram was convinced. He loved the idea and fancied himself a romantic and a gentleman, insisting on opening doors for everyone and desperate to go on a date ever since.  

In his mind, all that meant was saving up his pocket money for a couple of weeks, and then taking the short walk from school to his favourite diner in town one day to have ice cream with Samar after soccer practice, but to Aram it was a grand plan.  

Samar didn't quite understand why he thought it was such a big deal, but still she was quite happy to go if there was ice cream involved... While their collective parents were simply all too amused by the idea, and struggled to maintain earnest expressions instead of chuckling when Aram and Samar both asked if they could go.  

And so, off they went.  

The late-middle aged woman with the flyaway grey hair who ran Aram's favourite diner beamed at the two kids when they walked in. There was a reason that particular diner was Aram's favourite –only in part because the woman was friends with his parents- and she knew both Aram and Samar well by now from previous visits for ice cream, shakes, and all kinds of other treats... _And,_ she had been warned in advance by Aram's mother that they would be stopping by that afternoon for their date –of sorts- and that it was a big deal –well, to Aram anyway. With a grin that was impossible to hold back, the older woman –Gertie, her name was- made a point of showing the two to one of the nicer booths by the window, where Aram awkwardly shuffled his feet, not wanting to sit until Samar did so first. Samar's lip twitched, and an ever so slight hint of pink flushed her cheeks that she dismissed with the eyeroll of mock exasperation, but she sat all the same.  

'What would you two like today?' Gertie asked, pen earnestly poised over her notepad. Aram shifted his glance from the menu to Samar, prompting her to choose first.    
'Hmmm...' Samar furrowed her brow in the sort of deep concentration that was always necessary for trying to decide between all the delicious options on Gertie's menu. It was one of the rare situations that Samar always seemed to struggle to make a decision; there were just so many different ice cream flavours and toppings to choose from and one could never have _all_ of them, _unless...._ Samar's eyes drifted over one item on the menu that she and Aram had both always wanted to try but never dared to, simply because it was too big for either of them to finish. She glanced up, her eyes twinkling with the mischief of a new idea, and she broke into a grin. Aram watched her glance up and down, his own eyes scanning the menu and realising exactly what she was looking at before breaking into a beam of his own. 'Does the double sundae come with two spoons?' Samar asked curiously. The double sundae; the sundae that had an extra scoop and _all_ the toppings they could never choose between, but that neither of them could get through on their own.  

But... Who said they couldn't share one between them?  

Aram had said they were on a friend-date, and Samar was pretty sure in her infinite twelve year old wisdom that sharing a sundae was definitely a friend-date kind of move.  

Gertie chuckled again at the sheer enthusiasm on both their faces.    
'It can indeed,' she replied.  
'Then...' Aram paused just long enough to swap excited glances with Samar at the idea, before shifting his gaze back to Gertie. He took a quick breath, internally reminding himself that this was important occasion and he needed to pull himself together. 'A double sundae with two spoons please, Gertie.' There was a quick nod as Gertie scribbled the order down on her notepad, before darting away back behind the counter.  

It took almost no time at all for her to return to their side and deposit the huge sundae dish between them. A spoon poked out of each side, and she had added an extra cherry on the top, just so that they had one each.  

And at that point all friend-date seriousness went flying out the window in favour of sheer, utter, wide-eyed delight at the sight of the chocolate sauce, crushed nuts, little wafer sticks, and excess sprinkles over the perfectly rounded scoops of ice cream that sat in a perfectly neat row –almost as if Gertie had gone just a little more overboard than usual for them.  

Then the question was; where on earth were they supposed to _start?_

/*/*/*/*

**_Late April 1998_ **

It was almost as if Samar had tunnel vision as she ran between the two ambulances. Her heart still pounded; unlike hers, the other ambulance only had one of its rear doors open, not both. Samar jumped again, up the step into the back of it, then froze still... There was Aram, laying on his own gurney, looking just as confused, fuzzy and desperate as she was, but otherwise alright.  

'Aram.' Samar lurched forwards again within a nanosecond of uttering his name. Aram's eyes flashed, spotting her there just in time to brace for the arms she flung around him. His arms too, wound their way around her in an instant. He was torn between adrenaline rush and fuzziness of his own, but one thing was clear in his brain; the relief at knowing that she was ok.    
'Samar,' he breathed back, burying his face in her hair. For that moment, it felt like time stood still. A thousand and one questions seemed to be whirling around in his mind, everything from what was going on to how she had appeared from seemingly nowhere so suddenly, but at least in that moment they all vanished. She was in his arms again, and they were both going to be just fine.

Until of course, the sound of someone pointedly clearing their throat made the two of them suddenly spring apart. Aram sat up, cheeks once again flushing with embarrassment at his parents' amusedly raised eyebrows. Samar stood beside the gurney, biting her lip with a hint of awkwardness, but otherwise completely unashamed. Slowly, she met his mother's eye –the short, gentle nod in response prompting Samar to reach sideways just enough to intertwine her fingers with Aram's before he voiced that question they both so desperately wanted to know;  
'What happened?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, 'Choices and Consequences'
> 
> In going from this chapter on to writing chapter 4, and then planning the next few, I had a feeling that the question of how exactly Samar and Aram ended up in that janitor's room is going to end up being kind of like a 'whodunnit'... So now I'm going with that. 
> 
> In the meantime, for the next chapter, I'll bring back the old game of 'Guess Whimsy's Nonsense' that we had in 'Different Worlds'... So the question will be; who asks Samar out in the middle of tenth grade? Hint, it's not Aram!


	4. Choices and Consequences

**_Late April 1998_ **

The school felt oddly different when Samar and Aram returned. After a few days off to recover from the exhaustion, the severe dehydration, and any lingering after effects from the drugs used to knock them out which were then found in the blood tests run during their hospital check ups... Finally, they were allowed to return to class and some sense of normalcy.  

Except it  _ wasn't _ normal. 

The entire population of the high school seemed to be acting different. Some were quieter, some went out of their way to be nice when they normally would have kept walking and not even registered their presence in the same classroom. There were quick, furtive glances over shoulders and around locker doors, with whispers and hushed undertones accompanying every set of curious eyes that tried to look like they weren't following Samar and Aram's every move.  

It was easier to ignore in a classroom where they could concentrate instead on tasks at hand, or in the corridors where they could simply keep walking, but the cafeteria at lunch time was a completely different matter. While Samar and Aram sat at their usual table by the window, not right in the centre but not right in a corner either, their schoolmates alternated between giving them a wide berth, and creeping past closer and slower in the hope of hearing something about which to gossip. 

Word of what had happened to them at prom and afterwards had spread like wildfire through the student body, it seemed, and now everyone was curious.  

'People are staring at us,' Aram whispered past the top of his water bottle, as yet another gaggle of students moved past them, either failing or making no attempt at all to be discreet.    
'We  _ were _ technically kidnapped from prom for just over forty eight hours until anyone with authority actually bothered to listen to our parents and then find us,' Samar muttered back. Aram's eyes narrowed for a second, watching her roll her eyes at her tray of lukewarm lasagna and then let out an absent minded sigh of frustration, before he cast his gaze across the room again.    
'The popular corner's awfully quiet too,' he observed warily. The far corner of the cafeteria, closest to the food and furthest from the queue for the bathroom, was home to any number of more sport-enthused students, from the cheerleaders, some of the girls from Samar's soccer team, and most of the boys from the football team. Normally their corner was relatively loud as the students that sat there gossiped and laughed at whoever they pleased seemingly without a care in the world, but of all the cliques in the cafeteria on that particular day, not only were there a few glaring absences, but they also seemed considerably more subdued.    
'Good.' Aram's eyes snapped to Samar's in an instant at the sharpness of her tone. She winced barely a second later, knowing it was probably sharper than it needed to be, and quickly shot him an apologetic look. Still though, she didn't turn even for a second to glance back over her shoulder at the unusually quiet corner. 'Maybe some of those barriers between different groups will break down now,' she added, softer this time, 'so people can talk to whoever they want without being judged for it.' 

Aram panned his gaze around the room once more, trying to spot any differences. 

Samar wasn't wrong; not only did the popular corner completely miss the opportunity to heckle some of the ninth graders that Aram was pretty sure were consistently top of their science class, but the closer he looked, the more it seemed like all the usual social groups were splintering like there had been a ripple effect across the entire cafeteria. There were students interacting with those they had been all too nervous to speak to before; a younger boy, usually one that seemed likely to be handpicked for the football team in a year or so and who usually avoided the group of musicians across the room despite quietly acing his music class, was now suddenly right in the middle of them all. Two of the mathletes had shyly approached the table claimed by the debate team, and seemed to be awkwardly confessing their admiration. Even one of Samar's soccer team was notably separate from the rest, and sitting with the poetry club instead. 

Finally, Aram's gaze returned to Samar once more. She was watching him, with a tiny, bittersweet smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Neither of them knew how long the change would last –whether things were going to change permanently, or whether the status quo of the usual clues would restore itself in a day or two after the school wide shock had worn off- but at least it was a start.  

If only it hadn't come at the price that it had.  

/*/*/*/* 

**Mid October 1993**

The guilt tore a pang in Samar's gut before she even reached Aram's front door. It didn't matter that his front door was all of a thirty second walk from her own, and it didn't matter that she was sure he would understand. None of it mattered; she hated the fact that she was being forced to choose. 

He was her best friend... And it was his birthday. 

'Hey,' Aram's voice greeted her. The front door swung open before Samar even had a chance to knock, as if Aram had been eagerly waiting for her... And knowing him, he probably had. A delighted beam was spread wide across his face, all too ready for the celebration he had been impatiently waiting for, for days. 'You ready for the movie marathon?' Aram asked quickly, before Samar could even speak. Samar didn't respond, the guilt still churning in her gut, and without realising it her gaze fell to her feet. Aram's face crumpled. 'What's wrong?' He asked slowly. His own voice wavered with the dread of already expecting the worst. It wasn't often that Samar looked quite so anxious.    
'Aram...' Samar began, struggling to hold back a frustrated sigh at the dilemma that was essentially out of her control. 'I can't stay-' she bit her lip '-Dana just called everyone on the team for another impromptu pre-big match team sleepover thing-'   
'-But you  _ hate _ those-' Aram burst out.  
_ '-And _ she made a point of telling me that she remembered I've made excuses to get out of the last four, and that I'm the only one who doesn't go to them,' Samar hurriedly explained over his interruption. She eyed the hurt expression on his face, feeling worse by the second. Every so often, and especially before their most important matches, her soccer team got together for a team sleepover –usually at the home of Dana, the obnoxious team captain- which was  _ supposed _ to be about team bonding and locking themselves down into the right headspace for the game, except they never really were... And that was precisely why Samar hated them and  _ usually _ made a point of finding any excuse she could to get out of them.  

'Aram, I don't  _ want _ to go, but...' Samar trailed off. Her shoulders slumped; she would have given anything to celebrate the day with Aram rather than with a fake smile plastered over her face for her team's benefit, but she really didn't have a choice.    
'You knew last time that you had to go to the next one,' Aram quietly finished the sentence for her. He knew it as well as she did; that Samar had to toe that fine line between him and the team, just to keep the place on it that she treasured so much.  

But... When standing right there in Aram's front doorway, eyeing the miserable expressions on both their faces, just  _ knowing _ the practical side of things didn't make the situation hurt any less.  

Aram had no other friend but her to celebrate with... And now he had to spend the day with just his parents alone.  

'I wasn't expecting her to spring one on us today,' Samar added quietly, 'Aram, I'm sorry.'   
'It's fine,' he mumbled back... But Aram's tiny, reassuring smile was forced, and the eyes that he dropped to his feet bore clear disappointment.    
'No it's not.' Samar instantly winced at her tone that was probably sharper than it needed to be. The anger at her team captain forcing her to choose was seeping through when all she wanted to do was stay there with him. She took a breath, forcing her voice to steady; 'I'd much rather be here for your birthday than there listening to all their gossiping about jocks, cheerleaders and high school.'  
'Samar, really-' Aram shook his head as he spoke '-it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow instead, maybe.' Samar didn't know what to say. She stood there, letting out a sigh as Aram retreated back inside and the door closed in her face. She felt awful. He was hurt; in the space of two minutes Aram's day had turned from one that he had been excitedly awaiting all week, to a painful disappointment, and no matter how badly Samar didn't want that to be the case, there was absolutely nothing she could do. She sighed again, shoulders slumped even more so now in frustration and defeat as she slowly turned away from that closed door, crossed Aram's front garden, and headed back to her own once more.  

The longer she had to uphold that balancing act, the more difficult it seemed to become. 

/*/*/*/* 

The next day, Aram's gut was still churning too. Days earlier he had said to Samar that he would be there at the match to watch her play, and he was. He couldn't bring himself to  _ not _ go –he adored her too much, and he thought it too petty no matter how upset he still was. And so he sat there, feeling alone despite sitting in the stands crowded with people cheering on each team, and wondering if she even knew he was there. Of course, any time he watched one of her matches, Aram sat there alone... But he didn't always _ feel _ alone. This time though, that hurt feeling from the day before still lingered there in the back of his mind, making him feel the loneliness of the disconnect between them. He hadn't seen her before the match either; Samar would have been in the team locker room well before Aram arrived at the ground for the start of the match, but usually if she knew he was going to be there, they somehow found a way to meet up beforehand so that he could give her a hug and wish her luck –whether that be over their dividing fence before she left, or if Samar found a way to sneak out of the locker room just for that minute or two.  

This time though, they hadn't seen each other. Samar's team had whisked her away, leaving both of them too hurt and anxious to ask each other where to meet.  

And so there in the stands by himself, Aram sat.  

He couldn't help but feel a burst of pride every time she snatched the ball from the opposition and went running, but he also couldn't stop that lingering doubt in the back of his mind that was quietly asking him why he was there for her that day at all. He cheered with the crowd when Samar scored a goal, and instantly winced, ooh-ing and aah-ing with the crowd when she stumbled and fell in the final seconds. Aram's gut wouldn't stop flipping somersaults over and over again; Samar remained crumpled on the ground for a few moments, rather than jumping straight back to her feet like she normally would, until she finally managed to push herself back up... But she recoiled the second she stepped forwards, putting her weight on the ankle that had rolled under her and caused her to fall.  

She was hurt.  

Aram watched on, his brow furrowed in concern and his eyes glued to Samar as a couple of her teammates helped her hobble off the pitch. Even at the distance, he could see that pain etched across her face. He could see her running her fingertips through her tangled, windswept pony tail, in that way he only ever saw when she was stressed. He watched on so intently that for a second, it didn't even register in his brain that the match was over and those around him were starting to trickle out of the stands. It really wasn't until Samar disappeared from view entirely, that Aram did a double take and noticed that half the crowd was now gone.  

It tore at his gut. He wanted to be frustrated at her still, but at the same time he knew better and desperately wanted to know that she was ok too.  

But he had no way of finding out –not yet, anyway. There was nothing he could do except go home, and hope that he might catch her later –if he could fight the back against the inner conflict hard enough to bring himself to knock on her door. With a sigh of annoyance at himself over his own internal debate, Aram shuffled along behind the rest of the crowd out of the stands. 

/*/*/*/* 

Hours later, Aram still found himself pacing back and forth in his room, only stopping any time he heard even the slightest of noises outside to peek through his window to see if Samar was back yet. All sense of hurt felt like it had dissipated long ago now, replaced by the overwhelming concern and impatience to know if she was ok. So far, he hadn't seen Samar or even her parents' car pass his house yet. 

And knowing that she wasn't home yet only made Aram worry all the more so about her injury.  

Their street was so quiet that even the faintest sound of a car turning in from the next street and slowly approaching, made Aram's ears prickle. He darted straight to the window, not even  _ trying _ to appear as if he wasn't peering out into the street, waiting for his neighbours... But there was the familiar sight of Samar's parents' car, pulling in to their driveway. Aram stood practically frozen there, watching as Shahin jumped out of the car first, followed by Samar moving more cautiously. Even from his window, Aram could see the strapping around her ankle, and how gingerly she took that first step out of the car, but other than that –thankfully- Samar managed to hobble along unsupported until she disappeared again into her home. And with that, Aram went racing. He darted out of his room and straight downstairs, heading towards his own front door to do the usual loop straight around their dividing fence. He didn't stop to tell his parents where he was going –normally he always did just to be polite, even though they knew where he was going and he knew they knew- but in this instance he just kept scrambling. Aram swung open the door, ready to lurch straight across the porch... But then he stopped. A smile began to tug at his cheeks. 

There was Samar, slowly hobbling around the fence towards him, and with a tupperware container in hand.  

Aram scuttled straight across the porch, meeting her halfway across the grass.  

'What are you doing here?' He gasped. 'What about your ankl-' Aram cut himself off as he glanced her up and down, from the strapped ankle that stood steady on the grass, to the tiny grin starting to etch its way across her face. 'You  _ faked  _ it?'   
'Well...' Samar began, 'it's more that I  _ exaggerated _ it.' The grin widened into a conspiratorial smirk. 'It  _ is _ sprained. I just told Dana that the doctor said I'm not allowed to walk on it for a day or two. It's the weekend, so she'll never know.'   
'To get out of the post-match celebrations?' Aram stared back at her in amazed disbelief. Samar simply held up the tupperware container, lifting just enough of the lid for him to see his favourite rice flour cookies inside that Samar had baked the day earlier before Dana had forced her to abandon their plans.    
'Did you still want that movie marathon?' She chuckled softly. Aram couldn't help but lurch forward on the balls of his feet, throwing his arms around her in response. He'd had enough of a growth spurt lately that he was nearly a head taller than her and his hugs almost seemed to envelope her entirely, but Samar didn't care.  

Aram kept his arm around her, helping her up the two unfortunately steep porch steps that were far more difficult for her ankle than hobbling across the flat grass, and Samar rested her head comfortably against his shoulder, smiling softly as he immediately started chattering on about the array of movies he had chosen.  

They were ok. It didn't matter that her match today had been one of the biggest of the season. It didn't matter how difficult it was to uphold that balancing act between Aram and her team. There was something more important to Samar that needed celebrating than her soccer victory... And she was determined that she was never going to let her team tear them apart.  

/*/*/*/* 

**_Late April 1998_ **

The staring didn't stop. Even at the end of the day, while they tried to keep within the crowd bustling out of the school all at once, somehow all the other students gave them a wide berth. Aram kept his head down, while Samar simply tried to ignore them all and push onwards, pausing just long enough to reach out for his hand, and link her fingers through his to pull him along. 

Somehow at that, the whispering and the muttering that was only barely covered enough to stop them from overhearing, intensified.  

In all the chaos of everything that had happened afterwards, it hadn't even occurred to either Samar or Aram that with it being their first day back at school, and their first real kiss being shared in the privacy of the school's entrance just before prom, none of their classmates had seen them share that kind of physical affection with one another before.  

It had long been suspected, sure... But never seen. 

/*/*/*/* 

**_January 1996_ **

'Hey gorgeous.' For a moment, it didn't even register in Samar's brain that the voice was directed at her. It took the silence of no response, and the sensation of tiny hairs prickling on the back of her neck at someone standing there just behind her shoulder, before she even pulled her attention from her locker at all. 'Samar,' the slow, drawn out voice, almost purring in its overconfidence, finally made her turn and look away from the books and gym clothes she had been absentmindedly sorting through, ready for her next few classes.  

Standing right behind her was one of the boys from the football team. 

'Good morning, Chad,' Samar replied –politely but flatly. Her gaze flickered back to the contents of her locker and Aram standing just a couple of lockers down, trying to pretend like he was going through his own rather than curiously listening in. Chad sidled in closer, leaning his arm against the locker doors just to Samar's either side and shooting her his usual, lopsided smile.    
'So formal,' he chortled back, running absentminded fingertips through his almost stereotypical thick, blonde waves, 'anyone would think you were playing hard to get.' Samar raised a single, wry eyebrow –not that Chad even noticed. 'Anyway,' he continued, 'I got some free movie tickets-' that overconfident smile widened a little more '-I was thinking you might want to see something with me on Saturday? We can go to the central diner afterwards, maybe get some of those shakes... It could be a sweet evening.'   
'Saturday, huh?' For the sake of being polite, Samar resisted the almost overwhelming urge to roll her eyes at the jock. 'Well, while that sounds like a _ great  _ night,' she drolly continued, turning her attention back to Chad. 'I already have plans-' her gaze flickered back to Aram for a split second, with her lip curling up with the tiniest hint of a smirk as it then returned to Chad '-sorry.'  
'Another time, maybe,' the jock replied –the tone sounded completely cool and unfazed, but the fleeting dagger look he shot in Aram's direction suggested otherwise. 'See you round, gorgeous-' he blew a kiss to Samar before pulling himself off the wall of lockers, then gave Aram a curt nod '-nerdboy.' 

Samar held back a shudder, exchanging a wary look with Aram as they both watched Chad swagger away. 

'Sticking with your dweeb just so I can have Chad?' A second, almost painfully familiar voice appearing behind them both nearly made Samar jump. She swivelled on the spot, internally cursing the school's long locker corridors and how frustratingly easy it was to sneak up on people within them, and finally eyeing Dana standing there. 'Nice one,' Dana added, breaking into smile that really could only be described as saucy. It took everything Samar had not to roll her eyes at her team captain as her gaze turned calculating, glancing Aram up and down for a second with a smirk of her own. 'Maybe the occasional nerd friend to the team comes in handy after all,' the older girl mused. Dana turned on her heel, flicking a lazy wave of her hand in Samar's direction and still smirking at Aram as she too, flounced away in the same direction Chad had gone just moments earlier; 'later, dweeb.' 

'I really hate it when she calls you that,' Samar muttered under her breath, the  _ second _ Dana was out of earshot. Not far from her, Aram stood wide-eyed, stunned by the quick succession of events; they had been at their practically neighbouring lockers, minding their own business, and in the space of barely three minutes one of the most popular boys from the football team had asked Samar out, been turned down, only for the captain of the soccer team to overhear the whole thing, and completely misunderstand the situation, before finally leaving them to it once more.    
'Considering that rolling with it this time means you get out of dealing with Chad  _ and _ it puts you on Dana's good side at the same time...' He slowly murmured back, 'I think I can deal with it.' Samar shot him a look, not entirely impressed with the way he was letting people walk all over him, but also knowing better than to argue the point right there in that moment. She eyed the odd expression on his face –the slightly pursed lips and the wary, contemplative eyes flickering sideways, deep in thought. It wasn't an expression she saw often, nor could she identify it, but Samar had noted that it seemed to appear more often over the last few months –ever since the first occasion that one of the boys from the football team had asked her out. Chad wasn't the first, or even the second for that matter. He was the third since the incident during their school field trip ten months earlier that for some reason, seemed to have brought Samar from the shadows of their school's female cohort, right to the front and centre of their attention.  

Samar wasn't sure if the look on Aram's face was supposed to be indicative of concern, jealousy, some kind of protective instinct or maybe some combination of all three, but she  _ was _ sure that she didn't entirely  _ want _ to know.  

'I turned him down because I think he's an idiot,' she said softly. Samar pulled the last of her books from her locker, tucking it gently into her backpack before shooting Aram a small smile; 'it had nothing to do with trying to be nice to Dana.' Her locker door fell closed, as did Aram's a split second later. He quickly scurried across to close that tiny gap between them and fell into step with her, the two of them now sinking into the crowd of students shuffling down the hallway towards their respective classes.   
_ 'I _ know that,' Aram said, nodding adamantly, 'but  _ she _ doesn't.' A guilty grin tugged at his cheeks now, and Samar couldn't help but shake her head and let out a soft chuckle.    
'You hate lying,' she mused.   
'We're not  _ lying,  _ per se,' the words were deliberately slow and drawn out as Aram spoke, 'we're just  _ conveniently _ forgetting to correct her error of assumption.' Samar simply smirked rather than respond to the faint shade of pink that was now flushing his cheeks. His grin was still guilty, but Aram's eyes crinkled with mischief all the same. None of the other students ever saw past his shyness enough to see the smart, cheeky side of him that only ever came out when he felt comfortable and confident with someone... But Samar saw it every time, and she loved it. 'Not to mention, the shakes at the central diner aren't even that good,' Aram continued. Samar tugged on his shirt sleeve as he spoke, drawing his attention momentarily from his mischievous musings, to the classroom door he had nearly walked straight past. In a flash, Aram corrected his path, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he followed Samar into the room; 'Gertie's are much better.' Samar bit her lip, holding back the laugh that would undoubtedly alert the rest of their classmates to the conversation.    
'I agree,' she whispered back, shooting him a grin of her own as they both took their seats, 'but don't tell anyone else that, or it won't be _ ours _ anymore because the entire football team will flood in and take over.' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fun fact, before I wrote this chapter I never thought I'd have 'list of most stereotypical jock names' in my Google search history but hey, there we go. Ah, the things I look up for writing purposes...
> 
> Next up, flashing back to October 1994, and February 1997, in 'Sparks and Crushes'.
> 
> Shoutout to my BAE for such a brilliant guess in last round of 'Guess Whimsy's Nonsense', I worried for a moment that you had hacked my notes :P So, for the next round I'll have to give you a harder and much more nonsensical question; what colour is the tie Aram wears to their first Homecoming dance? Hint; the answer doesn't necessarily have to be as simple as something you find on a rainbow. ;)


	5. Sparks and Crushes

**_Early May 1998_ **

It was one week on from the prom night unexpectedly spent in the janitor's room, and one week of school over since returning, but Samar walked home alone that day. Aram was sick -with some stomach bug that his parents assumed he'd either picked up from another patient in the Emergency Room after they were found, or was perhaps a lingering after effect of the drugs that had spiked their drinks. His absence forced Samar to look closer, not to hide her attention in the whispered corridor conversations with her friend, but to take note of what was happening around her when he wasn't there. The status quo remained changed, and not only did the staring and the whispering seem to continue, but there were small smiles being shot in her direction now as well –and almost everywhere Samar looked. If anything, it seemed the former popular corner had been torn apart. Those who had abandoned ship and sought refuge, lurking in the shadows of other groups were left alone... But those few who insisted on sticking together were now shunned. The entire remainder of the student body was banding together in solidarity, and punishing them for what they had done.

Samar was the girl who should have had a designated seat in that corner, but had never sat there. She was the girl who rejected their targeting of younger, or smarter kids, and instead stood up for her friend... And when she had stood up for Aram, she had stood up for all of them. She had stood up for everyone not in that corner, and everyone who had ever been made to feel lesser because of it.  

And now they were all set on standing up for her.

None of them realised it was her birthday but quite frankly, Samar was ok with that. None of the other students had ever really realised that it was always Aram's birthday around or shortly after Homecoming either. Not to mention, despite Aram's jokes over the years that when in senior year there would finally be a dance around her own birthday and he would insist on making a fuss, Samar wasn't fazed at all by the fact that the fuss would never eventuate –well, not at school anyway. If anything, the only thing that really bothered her was that he was sick, and that was entirely irrelevant of the timing.  

His front door opened before Samar realised that her feet had delivered her to her destination despite her mind's contemplative wanderings. A warm smile stretched wide across the face that greeted her from behind the door, almost like Aram's mother had been watching the clock, knowing she would be there straight after school.

'Hi Mehri,' Samar greeted her.  
'Happy birthday, honey.' Aram's mother wrapped her arms around her, and Samar couldn't help but sink into them gladly. Their two families had grown so close over the years that each other's parents easily felt like extensions of their own. The respect afforded to each of their own parents, was just as strong for each other's, and so too was the affection.

And ever since they had woken up in those ambulances after the chaos of prom, it almost felt like their parents had been –collectively- even more affectionate and over-protective of both of them.  

'Thank you,' Samar's voice was muffled by the older woman's shoulder, but the tone was more than clear enough. She lifted her head again, leaning away just enough to face Mehri once more, but still staying close enough that those affectionate arms remained wrapped loosely around her. 'How is he today?'  
'Better than yesterday, but still not great,' Mehri observed, 'he's upstairs in his room if you really want to risk catching it.' Samar let out a sheepish grin; the risk of catching any bug that Aram might have had barely crossed her mind. She wanted to see him, and that was that. Mehri chuckled at the look on her face, instantly tilting her head towards the bottom of the staircase across the room in a sort of 'go on, then' gesture.

It took mere seconds for Samar to make her way upstairs after Mehri's prompt. She knew Aram's home just as well as she knew her own, and after years of spending times there often multiple times a week she was completely at ease wandering around as if it _was_ her own. Samar knocked softly on the half-ajar door to Aram's room, breaking into a tiny smile as she paused to lean in the doorway, and his bleary eyes turned slowly to her, crinkling happily.    
'Hey, birthday girl,' he mumbled. Aram smiled up at her as he spoke; after being stuck in his room all day for the last three days, but still feeling so nauseous that he barely managed to get any sleep, he was both exhausted and bored out of his mind. The highlight of each day had been Samar stopping by to visit each day after school but the smile, as utterly delighted and genuine as it was, was also strained like even the muscles in his face were too tired to make the gesture.  

'You look awful,' she gently teased in response. Aram let out a laugh through the yawn he was already trying to stifle. Samar wasn't wrong though; between the dark rings that sat heavy under his eyes, the colour drained from his cheeks, and the intermittent shivering, Aram really did look terrible.    
'I love you too,' he wearily chuckled back, 'are my parents really letting you up here unsupervised again?' Samar broke into a wry smile, pushing herself off the edge of the doorway she had been leaning on, and then quickly crossing the room towards where Aram was buried under the mountain of blankets on his bed.    
'We're both eighteen now,' she replied drolly, 'and you're sick. I think everyone knows nothing's going to happen while you're in this state.'   
'And yet...' Aram trailed off mid-sentence, his eyes going wide in curious surprise as Samar slipped into the pile of blankets beside him. 'Uh... _What_ are you doing?'    
'You're shivering, and it's my birthday,' she replied, all too matter of factly. She shuffled in the bed for a moment longer to find the most comfortable spot, before curling into his side, and letting out a sigh of deep contentment as she rested her head against his chest; 'this seems like a two birds, one stone solution.' Aram hesitated for a moment without responding, not at all sure where she was going with that or how he should feel about it. He was certainly curious, but at the same time he was all too wary of making any such assumptions.  

Taking his silence as her cue, Samar reached for his arm and pulled it around herself until Aram got the hint.

She was keeping him warm, _and_ ensuring he still got the birthday hug he had always insisted on giving her.  

Aram broke into a guilty grin, shifting his arm so it sat more comfortably around her, and pulled her in closer. There was such a deep contentment in her being there with him; as exhausted and nauseous as Aram felt, somehow having her there curled up next to him made him feel overwhelmingly better. He couldn’t quite figure out how that was –perhaps her presence was simply a comfort that set his stressed body at ease, or perhaps it was her warmth that eased his shivering and relaxed his aching muscles- but Aram felt better nonetheless.  

'I wanted to pick you some flowers,' Aram softly broke the peaceful silence that had fallen between them. Gentle fingertips ran through her hair, toying with the tangled curls. 'I asked Mom if she could pick the usual bunch but she didn't think it'd be the same if they didn't come from me.' Samar shifted her head on his chest, staring up at him.   
'You know I really don't mind, right?' She whispered back.    
'It's tradition though-' Aram spoke through yet another stifled yawn, his words becoming slower and quieter with every sentence '-ever since she made me pick some for our first Homecoming.'  
'I know,' Samar murmured. She reached up with one hand to gently rest it against his cheek before shuffling slightly –just enough to press a soft kiss to his lips and then linger there, resting her forehead against his; 'but I'm sure I can wait until you're well enough to pick them.' Samar's eyes crinkled at the sight of Aram's sleepy smile –all the response he could really manage at that point- then curled back into his side once more. She was quite comfortable resting there with him, especially if it helped him actually get to sleep.

They had always been close, and they had always been comfortable in each other's space... Being locked in that janitor's room together and having to huddle to keep warm until they had passed out side by side, had only added to that. Now, it was oddly peaceful just laying there with him, listening to Aram's breathing slow as his eyes fluttered softly closed and he finally fell asleep.

Samar broke into contemplative smile as she absentmindedly stared at the wall across the room. Her mind was elsewhere, reflecting back on the day he had given her that first crumpled bunch of flowers. There was a photo from that very day on the wall across from them too, but Samar took little notice of it. She remembered that day all too well.  

/*/*/*/*

**_Early October 1994_ **

Aram's stomach was flipping somersaults. One hand reached out to knock on Samar's front door, while the other remained clasped –possibly too tight- around the stems of a few flowers clipped from his mother's garden.

He had no reason to be nervous, not really. It was Homecoming, their _first_ ever Homecoming dance now that they had started ninth grade and moved into high school. Both Aram and Samar thought it was a little silly and had far less interest in the event that the girls in her soccer team had been excited about for months, but they had decided to go together as friends anyway. That way, they could make an appearance and not be accused of snubbing the event, but still keep each other sane as well. That was all it was supposed to be... Until they each told their respective parents that they were going together, and everyone had started to make a fuss.

Apparently, to them, it was a _big_ deal.  

And that was precisely when the nerves had started to set in.

Aram's parents had insisted he dress nicely –not in a tuxedo, but still in a suit and dress shirt- that he brush his normally wild hair, and that he even find out what colour dress Samar was wearing so that he could wear a tie that matched. The flowers –two red roses and a few sprigs of lavender and jasmine- had been the result of his father turning to ask his mother if Aram had picked any for Samar yet, Aram's eyes widening with the realisation that flowers were apparently yet another thing expected of him, and then both of his parents immediately chastising him for having not known that already.  

He and Samar had wanted their going together to be relatively low key, but nothing had gone as planned.

Samar's front door opened, and Shahin peered out, offering a grin and a casual wave of greeting. Aram followed him inside, quietly listening to the amused observations of the younger brother who had spent all day watching over the chaos of Samar and their mother, hair and makeup, and something about shoes that Aram wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. At some point, while he stood there in the living room, waiting for Samar to come downstairs, the anxious thoughts spiralling around in his brain, almost drowned out Shahin's voice entirely.  

'Hey,' Samar's soft greeting snapped Aram out of it in an instant. He did a double take; the girl who stood there in the entrance to the living room looked nothing like the Samar he usually saw. It wasn't just the fact that she was wearing a dress, when normally she always stuck to jeans or shorts and a shirt –to the point that Aram was fairly certain he had never even seen her wear a skirt before- but her hair was done and so too was a light layer of makeup.    
'Oh,' Aram breathed, 'whoah.' He stared back at her, utterly speechless. No words that he could think of in that moment, seemed anywhere near enough to describe how beautiful he thought she looked. His mouth made a tiny 'o' shape as he desperately searched his brain for _something_ to say... But he was stunned. A tiny smile began to etch its way across Samar's face as she watched him struggle, and her cheeks flushed pink. Her dress was a simple, but elegant one; dark blue lace and just a little past her knee in length. The thin shoulder straps topped a basic, almost summer-y v-neck style bodice, separated by a waistband from the long, flowy skirt that seemed to float around Samar as she moved. Meanwhile, her hair had been tamed from its usual wild mess of tangled curls that Aram loved, with a narrow braids that split from one side and rounded her head, leaving the rest of her hair to cascade around her shoulders in neater, carefully-styled, loopy curls. It didn't matter how long Aram stared back at her absolutely dumbfounded, nothing seemed long enough to take it all in.    
'You look nice,' Shahin's casual voice broke through Aram's train of thought, 'it's kind of weird seeing you in a dress, though.' Samar rolled her eyes at her younger brother, but Shahin simply shrugged. He was eleven now, and seeing his fourteen year old sister all dressed up was nothing other than amusing. The younger boy pulled a face, then scampered quickly back out of the room, but neither Samar nor Aram really noticed.  

'I think you look beautiful,' Aram finally managed to string those quiet words together. There was an odd stirring sensation in his stomach that Aram couldn't quite identify. It was overwhelming, like nothing he had ever felt before. He had always adored his best friend, but this... This felt different, and the feeling seemed to hit him out of nowhere like a freight train.    
'You don't look so bad, yourself,' Samar murmured back. With the crisp suit, tie, and dress shoes Aram too, looked different to his usual, slightly scruffier, casual self. Samar glanced him up and down, giving an approving nod that made Aram's cheeks flush just as pink as hers... Until her gaze reached the top of his head; 'but what did you do to your hair?'

Aram winced. He knew exactly what she was talking about, and he wasn't a fan of it either.  

'Mom made me brush it,' he grumbled. Aram quickly ran one hand through his hair for what felt like the umpteenth time that evening, desperately trying to smooth down the frizzy mess that had replaced his usual, _not_ frizzy mess. 'I tried to stop her, but she insisted,' he added, letting out a sigh. Samar couldn't help but chuckle. 'I, uh, brought you some flowers-' Aram held out the bunch still dangling from his fingertips, having been so distracted by her that he had just about forgotten they were even there. His gaze dropped to the flowers as Samar paused before taking them, eyeing how crumpled they now were from him having crushed them in his nervous grip; 'I might have squashed them a little.' Aram bowed his head sheepishly, but Samar took the flowers from him anyway. She turned them over in her hands, lip quirking up in affectionate amusement at the bent stems and broken petals.    
'Thank you,' she murmured back –soft, and earnest. Aram remained quiet, watching the way her fingertips traced the edges of those few broken petals and plucked them off, smoothing over the remaining ones so that the two roses looked just as good as they had when first clipped. With a soft smile, Samar tucked one into her braid, then reached forwards to tuck the second through the front pocket of his suit jacket.

Now they matched.  

Silence fell between them for a moment, torn between wanting to share small smiles, and not quite being able to meet each other's eyes as both sets of cheeks flushed pink once more. That strange feeling stirred in Aram's belly again...

'Ready to go?' Arash's voice broke the silence as he strode into the room. He held back a small smirk, watching them recoil from one another the instant he walked in. Both nodded quickly in response, still unable to quite meet the other's gaze, but hurried along after Samar's father all the same, heading for the car outside.  

/*/*/*/*

**_Early May 1998_ **

It was with some reluctance that Samar disentangled herself from Aram's soundly sleeping form. He didn't need her there now that he was asleep, and he wasn't the only one who wanted to celebrate her birthday with her. Her family was still waiting next door for her to come home after her visit to check on him... Somehow, despite the dinner plans and knowing that Aram wasn't going to be that far away, it was hard to leave him there.

Soon, high school would be over, and they would be heading off to college. Acceptance letters had come flooding in for both of them weeks before prom, with Aram ultimately heading off to MIT, and Samar to Yale. They would be on the same side of the country, in neighbouring states even, but they would still be much further apart than the proximity they were used to as neighbours.  

They were already dreading going their separate ways and having to do everything long distance... And now, trying to gently work her way out from being curled into his side and creeping out of the room without waking him, swirled those feelings of dread around in her stomach all over again. Samar hovered there once she slipped out of the bed, pausing to watch that slow rise and fall of Aram's chest as he breathed. She smiled softly at the ever so slight hint of colour beginning to return to his cheeks, and leaned in, pressing a slow, gentle kiss to his forehead. Finally she turned, ducking quietly out of the room, and leaving him there to sleep. He needed the rest. The quicker he recovered, the quicker he could return to her side at school for those last few weeks, and the happier they would both be.  

Samar couldn't help but let out a wistful sigh as she darted back down the stairs to say goodbye to Aram's parents on her way out. They had adored each other for so long, but then delayed giving into those feelings until it was almost too late.  

Now, she could only wish that they had more time together before they had to leave...  

/*/*/*/*

**_February 1997_ **

Aram was always far more chatty when it was just the two of them, than he was when they were surrounded in the classroom or the crowded school corridors. There, after years of being torn down by his classmates just for being himself, he stayed quiet. Aram had always been shy, but there in those corridors it was ever harder to find the confidence to speak up. Walking to and from school with just Samar by his side however, Aram could talk non-stop. He was confident with her, he knew and he trusted that she would never judge him simply because he was good at math and liked sci-fi.  

During the walk home from school that day, Aram chattered away like he always did but Samar, instead of her usual gentle teasing or eyerolls of mock exasperation at whatever ridiculous thing had most recently taken his fancy, remained quiet. She listened to every word he said, but her lips were pursed in annoyance and her eyes seemed more focused on the cracks in the footpath than anything else. Her most elaborate response in the entire walk so far, had been to nod. Aram stopped himself mid sentence, furrowing his brow in concern. She had let him ramble on for a while now without even interrupting once.  

'Are you going to tell me what's wrong?' He asked softly. Samar's head whipped up and she stared back at him in surprise for a moment, before it clicked in her mind. There was that head tilt, and the look of gentle skepticism that he had perfected just for her. Of course, he had picked up that something was bothering her.  

Samar wasn't sure why she ever thought she could simply push past the issue herself. They knew each other far too well for that.  

'It's Valentine's Day,' she sighed. Aram hesitated before responding. As far as he knew, Samar wasn't interested in Valentine's Day. She much preferred to focus on school and soccer than gossiping about which boys in their grade were the most attractive or recently available. If anything, from the moment she had seen all the carry on in the cafeteria popular corner at lunch time, with the seemingly endless exchanging of gifts and flowers, and the even _more_ over the top display of practically gag-inducing public affection Samar, and the overwhelming majority of their fellow student cohort _not_ in that corner, had rolled their eyes into what seemed like a completely new dimension.    
'And?' Aram's voice wavered warily, not at all sure what to expect in response.    
_'And_ there's no soccer practice today because the team wanted to have a group date with everyone and their boyfriends for Valentine's Day instead.' There was a not quite skip in Samar's step, as she kicked up some of the dirt on the footpath as she would a ball out of sheer frustration. Aram winced at the ferocity of the movement.   
'And you're annoyed because you don’t get to practice?' He gently pressed on.   
'Well that, _and_ only the players who have boyfriends are allowed to go. It's not an event that single players can tag along to as well,' Samar explained. She shook her head, letting out the umpteenth frustrated sigh of the afternoon. 'Aram, I'm the only girl on the team who's excluded by that rule. I'm annoyed because they did _that_ on purpose.'  
'Because of me...' Aram bit his lip as he trailed off. Samar met his gaze, but hesitated before responding. It was yet another incident of the team trying to wear her down and force her to isolate Aram as they all did, but her exclusion from the latest 'team bonding activity' was far from his _fault._ It wasn't because of a decision that _he_ made –unless anyone counted his decision to be friendly to his neighbour- that she was starting to be left behind by her team but rather, because of a decision made by Dana and the vice captain, Sophie, who had insisted that a Valentine's Day event simply wasn't for anyone who wasn't celebrating love.  

It could be said that the whole mess was because of him... But Samar wasn't the one about to make that argument.

'I shouldn't be annoyed,' she finally lamented, 'I don't care what they think of me, but-'   
'-But it's still not nice to know people are deliberately trying to hurt you,' Aram softly finished the sentence for her.    
'Yeah...' They reached the fence that separated their respective front gardens, and Samar stopped. That was the usual point where they parted ways for the day if she didn't have practice after school, but for once Aram didn't begin to make his way across the grass towards his porch. Instead he lingered there, first toying with, and then picking a few flowers here and there from the various plants that ran along his side of the fence line. Samar furrowed her brow in confusion, watching him; 'wait, what are you doing?' Aram broke into a grin, holding up the handful of flowers he had plucked –the very same combination of flowers that he had gathered for her before their first Homecoming dance, and every other Homecoming dance and birthday after that. He rounded the edge of the fence to close the gap between them again, holding the flowers out for her.  
'Valentine's Day is about love,' he said softly. 'Nobody said it was exclusively about boyfriends or girlfriends or _romantic_ love-' the flowers gently pushed their way in Samar's hand, and her fingertips wrapped around them, resting against his '-I love my best friend.' Samar stared back, first at the flowers in her hand and then at him, not quite sure how to respond.  

No longer were they just the kids they once were. No longer were they the two strangers who lived next door to each other and who wound up stuck with one another on their first day of middle school. They were so much more than that now; they had become firm friends practically attached at the hip. Aram had felt that overwhelming affection for her before their first Homecoming dance that once upon a time he couldn't identify, but by their school field trip five months later he had known exactly what it was, and at some point after that –somewhere between the half dozen football players that had each tried to make their move- Samar had realised much the same... Not that either of them knew that the other felt those same feelings. By now their love for one another was far more than that of simple friendship... But neither of them knew how to approach it.  

That stirring feeling in Aram's belly was as strong now as it always had been. His fingers were still trapped between hers and the flowers held amongst them. Samar held his gaze... Both of them wanting to make some grander gesture but too cautious of the fact that neither of them knew how the other felt. Samar took a breath, reaching up with her free hand to rest it softly against his cheek, and finally she broke into the first smile Aram had seen from her all afternoon.    
'Thanks,' she murmured. She leaned in a little further, just enough to press a soft kiss to his cheek before pulling away again. In an instant she ducked her head in the attempt to avoid the warmth in her cheeks from flushing pink even further, before shooting him one last, quick smile, and then darting away across her garden.

Aram stood there stunned for a second. His hand reached up to where that soft kiss had brushed against his cheek, and he wondered in part whether he had dreamed the entire thing.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That school field trip of 1995 that keeps being mentioned will pop up eventually, I promise! At this point I'm aiming for it to be the flashback of Chapter 7, which may or may not be the last chapter :P
> 
> Next up, 'Questions and Answers'.
> 
> Shoutout to my BAE for the interesting guess on the last chapter's round of 'Guess Whimsy's Nonsense'. It wasn't correct, but hey I learned something new! The correct colour was dark blue, or the other answer I would have accepted for Aram's tie was 'the same colour as Samar's dress.' :P
> 
> I don't have a guessing game for the next chapter, but you're always welcome to just guess random things about what might happen next! :)


	6. Questions and Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, everyone. It's been a crazy couple of weeks so I haven't had anywhere near as much writing time as I would have liked. My Beta also hasn't had a chance to check it yet, and waiting until she was free was going to delay this by a few more days again, so I figured I'd post it now and please please please just don't judge any typos I missed. I'll fix them up asap. :)

**_Early May 1998_ **

Both Aram and Samar sat uncomfortably side by side on the couch in the school counsellor's office. Neither of them wanted to be there but the school -madly attempting to either cover up or make up for the delay in finding them in the janitor's cupboard, or even address the problem before it reached that point- had deemed it necessary for them both to sit through an hour of listening to the old woman's sickly sweet voice drabble on about feelings and ask questions already answered by the information in the file in front of her. It took everything Samar had not to boredly stare at the clock on the wall behind the counsellor and count down the seconds until they were free from their mandatory hour, while Aram was trying desperately not shuffle awkwardly too much in his seat.

'So you were separated at Prom, your drinks were spiked, and then you were locked in the janitor's room by two of your classmates for-' the counsellor paused, glancing at her file '-fifty two hours.' She stared back at them, smiling her toothy smile that seemed entirely inappropriate for the conversation at hand, almost as if waiting for them both to launch into the tale from there. But neither Aram, who was too uncomfortable, or Samar, who thought the whole thing to be a complete waste of time, responded. The counsellor paused, eyeing them for a second longer and clicking her pen against the file, before giving up. 'What prompted that?' She asked. The high, irritatingly sweet voice felt like it bored into their skulls. The constant and overwhelming cheeriness seemed as if she didn't even know what frustration was.

Samar's eyes flickered sideways, meeting Aram's just for a split second as his did the same. Neither of them wanted to be there but the reality was that they had to say _something,_ or they were never going to get out of there at all.

'I quit the soccer team,' Samar reluctantly sighed.  
'They never liked that we were friends,' Aram quickly added, nodding adamantly. The counsellor stared down her nose, through those hideously outdated, winged glasses at them, quietly awaiting more. Samar gritted her teeth.  
'For the most part, I tried to keep things balanced,' she explained. Samar kept her voice steady, trying to get the whole thing over with; 'but then they pushed it too far.'

/*/*/*/*

**_Late March 1997_ **

There was an odd feeling that nagged Samar on the way around school towards the soccer pitch, that she couldn't quite identify. It was a relatively normal day, save for the odd quirk here or there. After their last class for the day, Samar and Aram had parted ways for the afternoon as they often did on days where she had training after school... But there had been an odd expression on Aram's face when she had watched him wander away in the direction of home.

In fact, there had been an odd expression on his face ever since he had swapped out the contents of his locker after lunch.  

He had been acting shifty, torn somewhere between excited and terrified, constantly glancing over his shoulder at her and refusing to explain why, ever since then.  

And whatever it was, it didn't leave a particularly great feeling in Samar's gut.  

She rounded the last corner, heading towards what would normally be a pitch full of her teammates getting ready for training... And suddenly stopped. There was nobody there. Samar furrowed her brow, turning on the spot once, twice, craning her neck to see all the way around, but there was nobody in sight. Her gut churned even more, and Samar broke into a jog, crossing the pitch to round her way back into the gym.

Whatever was going on, Samar was sure it couldn't be good.

Warily, she pushed open one of the gym's back door, peering inside. The lights were on only in one corner at one end of the bleachers... And while Samar couldn't see anything, there were hushed voices further inside that she could just hear -but not make out the words. She slipped inside, making sure the door behind her fell closed quietly, and crept around up the side of the bleachers.

'Hello?' The familiar, anxious voice calling out into the semi-darkness made Samar freeze. 'Samar, are you there?' The suspicious churning in Samar's gut instantly turned furious. Peering under the top planks of the bleachers, she could see Aram standing in the cavern underneath them all, a piece of paper clutched tightly in one hand. His shoulders were tensed with nerves and he gazed around the space, seemingly looking for her. Samar glanced further ahead, squinting to see the shadowy figures starting to loom at the other end of the bleachers.

The soccer team. Laughing quietly amongst themselves, they moved ever so slowly towards the bench that Aram stood underneath. One had a camera, and three had buckets of something Samar wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.  

Her blood began to boil. None of them had spotted her yet.

She had to be quiet.

Samar's hand crept along the wall beside her at the top end of the bleachers, searching... The team loomed ever closer, slowly shifting their buckets, poised to pour.

Samar found what she was looking for.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' She seethed. She flicked the switch on the wall as she spoke, instantly flooding the entire gym with its usual, glaringly bright lights. Everyone else jumped; the soccer team's eyes widened in alarm, most of them falling in quickly behind their leaders. Below, Aram spun wildly around on his feet, staring upwards and instantly spotting the furious standoff happening at either end of the benches above his head -or more notably, on either side of three huge buckets of sloshing brown liquid that seemed all too ready to drop over his head.  
'Samar?' Aram gasped, his eyes were wide like a deer caught in headlights. The sound registered in Samar's brain, but she didn't let her eyes drop to him for a moment. Her attention was focused straight ahead, on the snide girls in front of her and the sloshing buckets they carried, determined to stare them down and make sure Aram was safe from the brown liquid contents before she dared look down.    
'We're teaching him a lesson,' Dana scoffed. She strode confidently across the bleachers towards Samar, despite having been caught in the act, with Sophie by her side and the rest of the team lingering far less confidently behind them. _'You_ wouldn't listen so we thought maybe he would.'    
'You need to choose. Us or him,' Sophie chimed in, lip curling up in contempt; 'you can't have both.'

Samar paused before responding, but not in hesitation. By contrast, she had absolutely zero hesitation about the choice she was going to make. Her piercing gaze held that of her teammates for a moment longer, breaking into a defiant smirk of her own until Dana finally blinked. Then within a second, Samar ducked, slipping through the gap between the top two levels of planks, and landing deftly on her feet beside Aram below.

'Then I choose him,' she declared. Still, her gaze barely broke from her captain and vice-captain.    
'Samar-' Aram anxiously tried to interject.  
'-Congratulations Dana, I'm out of your hair,' Samar spoke over him, 'I quit.' Finally she turned on the spot, putting her back to them as she tugged on Aram's sleeve to pull him along. 'Come on,' she added to him, under her breath. Aram hesitated, spluttering and glancing back and forth between them a few times. His feet went along with Samar's gentle guiding, but the rest of him wanted to protest. Samar on the other hand, didn't look back once.  

She kept moving forwards, hand clasped gently around Aram's sleeve, leaving the team behind.

Samar waited until they were well clear of the school, before relaxing her pace and letting go of Aram's arm. She turned to glance at him, finally holding his gaze for longer than a split second now that she knew he was out of the team's reach.    
'Are you ok?' She asked softly. The anger was gone from her face, now replaced solely by sympathy –and regret that things had escalated so far.    
'Yeah, I'm fine.' Aram gave a hurried nod; he was surprised and even a little shaken, sure, but he was unhurt and unsplattered. In the scheme of things, he was far more concerned about Samar than himself. 'I don't want to know what they were about to do, but whatever it was, you got there first,' he added quickly. Aram's brow suddenly furrowed in confusion; 'wait, how _did_ you find me?' Samar pulled a face; she wasn't exactly sure how to describe it. Every so often there was a gut instinct that nagged her for reasons she could never explain and yet somehow, they almost always turned out to be correct.    
'Something didn't feel right,' she murmured back. 'What convinced you to go to the gym in the first place?'  
'There was a note in my locker...' Aram held out the piece of paper that was still dangling from his fingertips. Samar took it in one hand, eyes quickly scanning over the scrawled words that invited him to meet her in private after school because training was cancelled and she had something to tell him –the words, that were signed in her name, even though she had never written them. The handwriting wasn't hers, and Aram had known that instantly... But he had been too curious, too hopeful that it could genuinely be a moment he had been awaiting for so long, and too trusting to ever think that it wouldn't be. Samar's face crumpled at the sight of it; it had been all too easy to lure Aram into the trap. As smart as he was, his desperate curiosity and ever persistent faith in people, had finally got the better of him. For all he knew, she could have deliberately changed her handwriting on the note as part of some kind of surprise.

At the very least, after that kiss on his cheek a month earlier –that they _still_ hadn't talked about since- he was ready to believe just about anything if it had even the slightest chance of meaning that everything he had hoped for so long, might finally come true.  

Except it hadn't.

He had been set up... And now Samar had been the one to pay the price for it.  

'You can't quit soccer for me,' Aram insisted, watching her shake her head at the note; 'you're too good-' his face crumpled as he spoke '-I don't want to be the reason you give that up.' Samar glanced up from the note, shaking her head once more –but this time, in determination rather than disappointment.    
'I'm not giving up soccer,' she replied, matter of fact but only gently so, 'just the team. And it's not just about you. The attitude in that team is toxic, and I don't want to be part of that. What they did to you is just one example of it.' She turned slightly on the spot, walking onwards from their momentary pause and finally continuing along the usual path home from school. Aram scurried the first few steps to catch up before quickly falling in step with her once more. That was it; as far as Samar was concerned, the matter was done and dusted. It was time to move on.    
'But what if there's not another team?' Aram however, wasn't quite ready to let the issue rest. His brow knitted together in anxious thought, worried that she was going one stubborn step too far in her seemingly endless fight against the system. 'Samar, I don't know if this is a good idea...'  
'It's not your decision.' Samar's gaze remained firmly fixed ahead. Her head was held high, and her lips were pursed together in a thin line of determination; 'I'll finish the last few matches of the season, but then I'm done.'  
'They'll lose without you,' Aram anxiously pressed on. Samar glanced sideways at him, one wry eyebrow raised.    
'Maybe,' she said, letting out a shrug and breaking into a tiny, wistful smile, 'but they should have thought of that before they tried to drive me out.'  

/*/*/*/*

**_Early May 1998_ **

'I thought leaving the team behind would be the end of it,' Samar sighed, making no effort at all to hide her annoyance, 'but we didn't account for rumblings that would happen within the team afterwards.' The counsellor, eyes scanning over the notes in her file as she followed along with Samar's words, curiously glanced up in an instant. She paused, watching Aram's quick nod of agreement, before switching her gaze back to Samar and curiously tilting her head;  
'Rumblings?'  
'After I left the team, their performance started going downhill,' Samar explained through gritted teeth, 'and then they all started arguing amongst themselves until Dana and Sophie had nearly the whole team split in two.'

/*/*/*/*

**_Late April 1998_ **

Aram was on the verge of shaking. Caught somewhere between terrified and excited, it was overwhelming. There he was, having just stepped out of the car and opened the door on the other side for Samar to do the same.  

He couldn't get over how beautiful she looked.

He had always thought she looked beautiful at every Homecoming dance they had gone to, but prom was on an entirely new level. Aram scrubbed up pretty well too –accordingly to Samar, anyway- but to him the tuxedo was little more than something that kept getting in the way of his constant efforts to catch his breath. Samar, on the other hand, looked absolutely radiant in a shade of cherry red that flowed stunningly from the criss-crossed bodice and shoulder straps that twisted at the top. Her hand was still clasped in his as they slowly crossed the garden at the front of the school, somehow having not thought to let go after he had helped her out of the car. Slowly, and side by side they ambled across the garden, awestruck by the twinkle lights and pastel balloons that beautifully illuminated what was usually a fairly simple –almost drab, in fact- lawn lined by small trees and flower patches that lead the way to the school's entrance. The prom might have been organised by members of the student body that Samar had a certain distaste for, but even she had to give credit where credit was due; the effect of the simple decoration –thorough but not at all gawdy- was one of impressive elegance.  

Between Samar and the garden, Aram almost didn't even notice his father's car driving away behind them.

_Almost._

Over the last year, Samar had been calmer and more relaxed than Aram had seen her in a long time. Leaving the soccer team behind had eased levels of stress that neither of them had expected. It had given them time, not just for the growing demands of their final year's studies, but for each other too. All caution of having to balance commitments to and relationships with the team and Aram, was now thrown to the wind. Samar had continued to train on a personal level, running in the mornings and taking her old and fraying but no less beloved childhood soccer ball to the field to practice whenever she knew it would be free, all in the name of keeping up her fitness and her skills, but she had well and truly left the team behind. She was looking forward now, to the end of high school, and to the opportunities she had the potential to find in teams local to college instead.  

Both of them were looking forward to getting out of that small town, and finding their place amongst a crowd that accepted them for exactly who they were.  

The flip side to that, however, was the knowledge that it meant leaving each other as well.

The very idea was driving Aram crazy.  

He loved her so dearly, and he was rapidly running out of time to say so. Over the last year or so, ever since that Valentine's Day, the words had been on the tip of Aram's tongue, but he had been putting them off. Every time he had nearly managed to say something, he had talked himself down. There was always some reason or another; they were studying for tests and didn't need the distraction, the moment wasn't private enough, or even in one particular instance, a noisy bird was flying overhead and Aram didn't think the moment was romantic enough. He was torn between desperately wanting to say something, and being absolutely terrified to do so, with the what ifs going round and round in his mind, convincing himself that he was dreaming... That the idea of her returning his feelings was little more than his imagination seeing only what he wanted rather than the reality.  

But he was running out of time... And Aram just couldn't hold it in anymore, almost as if his own brain was now screaming at him.  

'Wait,' Aram suddenly burst out, before stopping himself. Samar raised a curious eyebrow, and Aram instantly winced; now he had to continue on with the train of thought that was so nerve wracking to voice. He took a breath, an expression suddenly crossing his face that was so earnest, a hint of surprise flickered in Samar's eyes. 'Before we go inside,' he slowly began again, 'Samar, I wanted to say-'

He couldn't finish the sentence. One moment he was trying to let it out, and the next moment he was cut off by her soft lips landing on his. Aram's arms wrapped around her waist in an instant, pulling her in closer, while Samar had one hand rested against his cheek and the other clutching the opening of his jacket, holding him to her. All of a sudden, all sensation of feeling sick with nerves at what he wanted to ask, vanished –replaced instead by the feeling of his stomach plummeting and turning sudden somersaults in delighted, disbelieving joy.  

They couldn't breathe, but neither one of them wanted to stop.  

His arms around her and his face lingering so close, felt so right... Even as they had to pull apart just enough to catch their breaths, they stayed close. Samar's forehead rested against his, both their eyes crinkling happily. She couldn't help but let out a tiny laugh in sheer relief; they had both held on to those feelings for so long, too nervous to act on them no matter how badly they wanted to. Now, no words needed to be said for it all to be clear.  

'Um, we should probably go inside,' Aram murmured, not at all wanting to pull away.    
'Probably,' Samar softly chuckled back. But still, she lingered there for a moment longer, both of them all too lost in the moment and that warm and fuzzy feeling inside of _finally..._ Her fingers slowly released their hold on his jacket, slipping back around Aram's, and giving them a gentle squeeze. Aram couldn't wipe the lopsided, gleeful beam from his face. Side by side, they crossed the remainder of the garden, slipped through the school's entrance and joined the crowd already starting to sway to the music. The presence of the other students barely even registered in Samar and Aram's minds at first; they found their place on the dance floor, and Aram wrapped his arms around her once more. Samar sank into them gladly, eyes crinkling as she leaned her forehead softly against his, and both of them began moving in time with music.  

/*/*/*/*

For the most part, it felt like they were the only ones in the world. Samar and Aram stuck together, dancing happily and ignoring everyone else around them. With everything now clear between them, the night felt like the perfect end to what was easily one of the best school years they'd had in a long time. The pressure of it being their final year and trying to get into college didn't matter; being free to spend as much time together as they pleased without having to toe that line with her team any more was _everything..._ And now, with feelings in the open, and no longer having that anxious wondering or fear of time running out before they could find out how the other felt, all they needed –or even wanted, for that matter- was each other.  

Another song ended, and hands slipped from waist to fingertips –both of them taking the momentary pause to catch their breaths before the next song started. The tiniest of delays –perhaps all of a nanosecond- was all Samar needed to take in a little more of the room than she had in previous pauses, and she suddenly furrowed her brow.  

'What's wrong?' Aram asked, his own face contorting with concern at the sight of the expression on Samar's face.    
'Something doesn't feel right,' she curiously murmured back. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck were prickling. Her gaze panned around the room surrounding the dance floor, taking note of far more eyes on her and Aram than she would have expected –or than she was comfortable with. At the drinks table, Chad and Sophie were oddly deep in conversation -as the former seemed to be collecting fresh bottles of water for himself and Dana- both their gazes flicking between each other, and Samar and Aram. There were a pair of Chad's closest teammates from the football team lurking, almost guard-like by the archway that led into the far corridor, for no apparent reason –but they had not so discreet eyes on them nonetheless. One of the cheerleaders and another of the soccer players strolled back and forth, side by side through the crowd, trying and _failing_ to look like they weren't watching as well.  

Only Dana, and on the opposite side of the room to her date, had her gaze directed elsewhere. Her eyes, unlike those of the other soccer players and their various friends amongst the footballers and cheerleaders, were instead focused on Chad and Sophie. Her brow furrowed, suspicious as she watched them... And that did nothing to ease the apprehensive feeling in Samar's gut.  

Something didn't feel right, and not in the least because her head was starting to feel ever so slightly fuzzy and her feet unstable against the dance floor.  

'Ignore them,' Aram suggested gently, 'you left the team. Surely, there's nothing else that can happen now.' That said, even Aram wasn't sure if that advice was really worth following, no matter how much he hoped and wanted to reassure Samar that it was. These days, if Samar's gut said something was wrong, that was all it took for him to be completely convinced that such was indeed the case.  
'We should get some more water while there's no crowd around the table,' Samar murmured back, eyes narrowed and lips pursed in the clear indicator that though she was verbally changing the subject, he mind certainly wasn't. 'It's warm in here.' Aram nodded his quick agreement, turning to lead the way in the scurry back to the drinks table. Samar followed him along, but slowly fell behind. She was too busy glancing curiously around the room, and trying to figure out what was going on around a dance floor that seemed so decidedly normal. She couldn't place it, and that only bugged her still. Her head gave a sudden spin, and Samar stopped still, trying to stop herself from stumbling. All in a flash everything went fuzzy, some faces seemed doubled and the voices around her all blurred into one another. Samar blinked hard, once, twice, three times, trying to clear her vision, but fuzzy it stayed.    
'Aram?' She called out into the blur before her eyes. Even her own voice sounded alien.

There was no response.

A blurry figure moved in front of her, and Samar reached out, gladly latching onto a hand that seemed to be reaching for her too and ready to guide her along. The hand held on gently, the attached, muffled voice telling her that there was a chair only a few steps further away...

...And then everything went dark.  

/*/*/*/*

**_Early May 1998_ **

The entire convoluted result wouldn't stop spiralling through Samar's brain, even after the school counsellor set them free from her office –not because Samar was traumatised, but because the whole thing seemed so ridiculous. It had been Chad who had dragged them towards the janitor's cupboard and shoved them inside with the help of a few footballer friends, after Sophie had spiked a few drinks and had her own friends switch them out with Samar and Aram's. Chad had the brawn Sophie needed, but not the brains to protest against her plan, and he was all too easy to blackmail into cooperation even if he did try to protest. Between still being annoyed at Samar for being the only girl in the school ever to turn him down, and somehow being convinced by Sophie to cheat on Dana, Chad was stuck no matter which way he wanted to turn.  

Sophie meanwhile, was the mastermind, wrought with jealousy and desperate to retaliate against Samar for ruining every one of her plans without even trying. She had always wanted to outdo Dana, who had always been just ahead of her in the team even in taking the role of captaincy, but she had never been able to do so... And to add insult to injury, Samar had always been in the way of her being able to close that gap. Even if Samar refused to join in with the team's mockery of other students –in turn, meaning she always lacked the respect of the team that she would have needed to have to captain it- being the best player skill-wise meant that rumours were constantly circling that she was a threat to either Dana or Sophie's role –depending on which rumour one chose to believe, of course. They varied, from Samar taking on the role of captain after Dana instead of Sophie moving up from vice-captain, all the way to musings over the past and the thought that Samar should have been given the vice-captaincy in the first place instead of Sophie. Either way, Sophie had wanted her gone, and it had been all too easy to encourage the already obnoxious Dana –and by extension, the rest of the team- into isolating Samar even further.  

But neither of them had anticipated that the team would fall apart quite so spectacularly once they succeeded in forcing Samar to leave. The team had split in two as Dana and Sophie argued over who was at fault –sending the team's overall performance spiralling downwards even more so. Sophie had been stripped of her vice-captaincy by the coaches as a result, and well... In her mind it was still all Samar's fault.  

After that, throwing Samar and Aram in the janitor's cupboard and leaving them in there to suffer for as long as possible had been mere retaliation.  

Samar gave an absentminded shake of her head; trying to summarise what had been simmering quietly for months into a short ten minutes for the counsellor had felt like reliving some kind of soap opera.  

Needless to say, Sophie, Chad, and the small handful of friends that had helped them on prom night, had been asked by the school not to return to class again. They were tied up with lawyers, police interviews, and potentially facing charges for what they had done.

At the very least, the college placement offers they had each received for their respective sporting abilities had promptly been rescinded.  

Dana meanwhile, and given that she hadn't taken any part in tormenting Samar and Aram since the incident over a year earlier that had convinced Samar to quit the team, was still at school... Though in the aftermath of Sophie and Chad's antics at prom, she had very quietly stayed out of everyone's way.  

Well, until _now._

'Samar,' a voice called out, as Samar and Aram tried to move away from the counsellor's office and down the corridor as quickly as possible. All either of them wanted was to get out of the school grounds and make their way home. The voice calling out for them was so unexpected that Samar stopped, doing a double take as she glanced back at the figure they had brushed past without really looking at, and saw Dana standing there.    
'What do you want?' Samar asked, probably a little sharper than necessary. Dana hesitated, idling on the spot in what was easily the first occasion that Samar had ever seen her appear to lack confidence. The soccer captain, bowing her head and shuffling forward with miserably slumped shoulders, rather than her usual confident stride with her head held high, crossed the corridor and closed the gap between them.  
'I just wanted to say...' She warily began; 'I'm sorry-' green eyes filled with regret glanced from Samar, to Aram, and back again '-I know that doesn't fix anything, but...' Dana trailed off, shaking her head at the floor beneath her feet.  
'You weren't the one who locked us in that cupboard,' Samar murmured –almost flatly- in response. The apology was hard to accept after all the years of torment, but Samar could recognise the attempt and she could certainly recognise the reality of who had really tried to hurt them.    
'But I should have stopped it before it went that far,' Dana lamented, holding Samar's gaze. 'I shouldn't have let Sophie push me into doing what we did to you-' her attention turned to Aram once more, and she offered a tiny nod '-to both of you.'  
'Thank you,' Aram spoke up, offering Dana an attempt at a tiny smile. Samar remained quiet as Dana's gaze turned back to her, lips pursed. Slowly, Samar gave a nod of her own; she could recognise that Dana wasn't the one who had led the worst of the torment, but she couldn't quite bring herself to be as forgiving as Aram was.  

Dana hesitated for a moment longer, before bowing her head once more and turning away, not really sure what else to say.

Samar and Aram watched her go, before finally continuing on through the school's doors and across the grounds.  

'That's the first time she's ever spoken to me without calling me a name,' Aram quietly observed.    
'Her apology doesn't change what she did,' Samar muttered back. Aram simply raised an eyebrow, gently warning;  
'Neither will holding a grudge.' Samar let out a sigh of mock exasperation.    
'And that's why _you're_ the Valedictorian.' Aram's eyes met hers; crinkling slightly as Samar at last broke into a small smile.    
'Let's just get out of here,' he chuckled. He hand reached for hers beside him and he leaned in, dotting a quick kiss to her cheek until the smile widened more so; 'I have a speech I need you to help me finish.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, the last chapter; 'Endings and New Beginnings' unless of course, I change the name of it between now and then. But I *have* started writing it, so it'll be posted eventually! :D


	7. Endings and New Beginnings

**_May 1998_ **

'Hey,' Aram's soft voice sailed across both their front gardens. Samar swivelled in the rickety, wooden garden swing beside the dividing fence, glancing back to spot him crossing his own yard and rounding the fence towards her. The swing, nails rusted over and hinges stiff from years of disuse since Samar and Shahin had left their childhood behind them, no longer moved so well but remained a comfortable outside seat amongst the rosebushes, all the same. For the moment Samar sat there, contemplatively staring up at the twinkling night sky until Aram's voice had drawn her attention. Inside her home, her parents and Shahin were all sound asleep. Inside Aram's home, Samar assumed much the same could be said of his parents too. It was just the two of them now –after several days in a row of barely managing to see each other at all.  

'I uh, saw you from the window,' Aram added, lip quirking up with his usual lopsided, awkward smile as he gestured casually to the second storey bedroom window behind him, and closed the gap of the last few steps between them. The days felt like an eternity since they had last seen each other. The moment he had absentmindedly glanced out of his window and spotted her there, Aram knew he had to sneak outside too. Samar broke into a soft smile of her own;    
'How's the packing?' She asked quietly.    
'Chaotic. You?'  
'Pretty much the same...' Samar shook her head as she trailed off, and Aram let out a quiet chuckle. Packing was the sole reason they had barely seen each other; they were both due to leave for college the next day, and until then it was a hectic rush to sort through the physical contents of their entire lives so far, decide what to take with them, and then pack it. There was the constant internal debate between what needed to be packed for practical reasons, what they wanted to pack for sentimental reasons and of course, the ever restricting memory of how much space they had in their bags and in their dorms. Finally, they were both more or less packed and ready to go. Finally, their respective parents were starting to back away from the last few days of trying to smother them with last minute affection and life lessons before they left and _finally,_ Samar and Aram had a moment to breathe before setting off for the next big adventure.  

Aram slowly lowered himself onto the rickety seat besides Samar, wrapping one arm loosely around her. In an instant, just with that physical contact, he felt at ease again for the first time in days.  

'Dad tried to give me a rerun of the talk the other day,' he sighed. Samar did a double take, staring back at him in utter disbelief.  
'As in... _The_ talk?' She spluttered, torn between being horrified and laughing hysterically. _'Why?'_   There were both adults; _young_ adults, sure. But adults, nonetheless. There was nothing left of the so called birds and bees that either of them still didn't know.    
'Because we're going off to college tomorrow,' Aram warily began to explain, 'and he thinks all high school couples are desperate to reach that point before they have to go to separate colleges.' He rolled his eyes in amused exasperation; 'he did the whole _'I'd rather you didn't but if you're going to insist on it then at least do it safely'_  thing.'  
'Seriously?' All Samar could do was shake her head again, still disbelieving.    
'Mmhmm...' Aram hummed back. The entire conversation had seemed pointless; by the time the words were said, it would have been too late. He hadn't seen Samar in days beforehand and they were so close to leaving that, well... If they really were inclined to go down that path before they left, it would have happened _well_ before Aram's father brought it up.

But then again, Aram figured it was just yet another of the last ditch attempts by both his parents to instil every last piece of life advice they could possibly think of before he left the nest.  

'Do you remember the last time we watched the stars like this?' Samar murmured. A smirk tugged at her lips and her eyes crinkled with amusement as she reflected on the aftermath of that moment; 'I'm pretty sure they thought we were up to something then too.' Aram couldn't help but grin at the memory; it had been a terrifying moment when both their parents had yelled and grounded them for a month back then, but in hindsight –and even as soon as their parents' annoyance had worn off a day later- it was simply an amusement.  

/*/*/*/*

**_March 1995_ **

Aram stretched his arms out above his head the moment he managed to worm his way out of his tent. Shivering hands came down only to rub bleary eyes, and he barely remembered to zip the tent back up before slowly starting to walk away. He had no idea which teacher at their school had thought it was a bright idea to organise a field trip of camping for a few days that was supposed to cover things from any number of subjects –but in reality, ended up being mostly about collecting samples from nature for various science classes- but either way, Aram wasn't a fan. It was cold, they all had to share tents with at least one other student –with tent mates being assigned, rather than everyone being able to choose their friends- and Aram had ended up stuck with another boy who wouldn't stop snoring louder than a freight train.  

Nothing about the trip was going well.  

Aram shivered all the way to the only man-made construction on the site; a small brick built shelter that housed two small bathrooms. He continued shivering nearly halfway back.

It was at that point, of course, that Samar's presence distracted his sleepy, one-track brain from its current track of returning to his tent and even worse, the loudly snoring tent mate.  

Samar was perhaps fifteen feet away from the centre of their campsite, sitting quite still on one of the fallen logs at the site edge opposite to the tents. She had her back to him, staring up at the sky through a small gap in the tree tops. It was a clear night; few clouds graced the sky otherwise full stars that twinkled brightly through the trees. The breeze was so light, even the most twig-like of the tree branches were nearly as still as Samar was. The air was silent, save for the sound of a few leaves crunching underfoot as Aram switched directions and slowly ambled towards her. If not for his own movement, Aram could have wondered if the campsite was frozen in time.  

'What are you doing out here?' He asked softly. Samar jumped where she sat, having not realised she was approaching from behind. She blinked; it took a moment to register that it was in fact Aram standing there rather than anyone else.  
'Watching the stars,' she finally murmured back. Samar broke into a warm smile that seemed a stark contrast the cold making both their shoulders shiver, and she gestured casually up at the sky through the gap in the trees. 'What are _you_ doing out here?'  
'I had to go the bathroom,' Aram explained, through a hand over his mouth that tried and failed to stifle a yawn. His gaze snapped upwards just for a second to glance at the stars she was point at, before dropping back to her, his brow furrowing in concern. 'Which is the only reason we're supposed to be out here overnight,' he added, gently warning. With a school group full of fourteen and fifteen year olds, naturally the first thing to happen upon arrival –even before putting up the tents- was all the teachers giving the group a lecture about staying in their own tents overnight, and not getting into anything they referred to as 'inappropriate mischief.'

Aram tried _not_ to think about what it was exactly that such a phrase was supposed to imply.  

'Staring at the sky isn't going to hurt anything or anyone,' Samar mused, giving a good natured eye roll; 'nobody will ever know.' Aram hesitated for a second, but warily sat down on the log beside her. Samar's approach to the rules had always been flexible. She considered the intent of them, rather than following them to the letter. In this case, the rule about staying in the tents overnight had little to do with stopping them exiting their tents in general, and everything to do with making sure the school didn't have to deal with any boys or girls engaging in any kind of age inappropriate behaviour together. Staring at the stars then, while _technically_ breaking the rule about straying outside her tent, was a complete non-issue because she wasn't doing any of the things that the rule was actually _trying_ to stop.  

Aram, on the other hand, had a more 'better safe than sorry' approach when it came to following the rules to the letter... But, Samar still had a point; everyone else was sound asleep. So long as they returned to their tents eventually –which was likely to be soon, given how cold it was- it was doubtful anyone would ever know they had ever left them at all.  

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and Samar leaned in gladly, resting her head against his shoulder. It seemed such a natural gesture to them by now, especially when they were both so tired. Despite each wearing multiple warm layers over their pajamas, they were still shivering. Huddling together, if nothing else, at least served to keep them warmer.  

Then of course, there were the feelings. It didn't seem like much to say that they had met for the first time only three and half years earlier, but so much had happened in that time. They had become such close friends, entirely comfortable in each other's personal space long before becoming conscious of the idea of anything beyond friendship. Now though, that strange feeling that had stirred in Aram's belly before their first Homecoming dance five months earlier, was far from strange anymore. From then on, it had stirred in Aram's belly over and over again on a regular basis, and now... Huddled next to Samar in the quiet stillness of the middle of the night, holding her close to keep her warm while they stared up at those twinkling stars above their heads and the teenage hormones swirled inside their brains, Aram knew _exactly_ what that feeling was.  

He was only fifteen and sure, maybe at that age he didn't really understand what love was yet, but Aram was pretty convinced that he loved her all the same.  

'If nothing else on this trip is going as planned,' Samar's soft voice speaking up again, interrupted Aram's struggling attempts to convince himself not to think about how close they were to one another in that moment. He gave a small shake of his head that thankfully, Samar didn't seem to notice through her stifling of a yawn, and redirected his focus to listening to her words instead; 'at least none of the soccer team are in our science class.' Samar rolled her eyes at the very idea; the trip had been a shambles insofar as its educational purposes were intended, but the result was still a pleasant trip into the wilderness, away from the judging eyes of her team. Trying to toe that line between them and Aram was an endless frustration but at least there amongst the trees, staring up at the sky, she had no such worry. Aram however, furrowed his brow; he was always conscious of the frustration Samar felt in keeping things balanced, and it nagged at him.  

In turn, it only added to the anxious realisation of his feelings; if it was already a struggle to balance the team and a friendship with him, there was no way he would dare risk making it worse by trying to turn their friendship into something more... That was, if he could ever bring himself to admit to her how he felt, anyway.  

'Why do you keep me around the way you do, if it's so difficult?' Aram murmured. His tone was almost weary; Aram was well beyond the point of wondering if it would make her life easier if he simply forced himself to stay away from her, or wondering if he should have never tried to strike up a friendship with her in the first place. He saw the way it gnawed at her, and the way she was so determined not to let it show –and for the most part, Aram was the only one who noticed the micro expressions of annoyance on her face and knew the truth. And yet... It was almost impossible to stay away from her. He was drawn in by the mischievous spark that was always in her eye, by the confidence that seemed to radiate from her, by her sharp wit and soft smile and oh... The list in Aram's head felt like it was endless. And so he was stuck, feeling guilty and wishing he could make things easier for her, but madly in love with her and completely unable to pull himself away from her either. 'Wouldn't be easier just to stick with the girls in your team rather than having to do the constant balancing act every day just to hang out with me instead?'  
'It would be _easier,'_ Samar replied, borderline scoffing at him; 'but that's not what I _want._ They only like the fact that I'm a good player, but none of them actually _care_ about me, whereas you do. It's as simple as that.' She turned her head, earnestly holding Aram's gaze to reassure him. Samar knew exactly what dilemma was running through Aram's head, and it stung. The balancing act was difficult, but never something she would ever hold against him. It was her team that made everything so difficult, never Aram.  

The tiniest hint of a half-hearted smile tugged at Aram's lips at her words. His arm was still wrapped around her, and her head on his shoulder was still tilted upwards, gazing up at him with that sleepy smile. Aram's stomach flipped a somersault; she was so close and so comfortable nestled into his side. She was warm and she smelled so good... And they were both so sleepy. Aram buried his face in the top of her hair, and Samar let out a sigh of deep contentment. Silence fell between them as their eyes returned to watching those tiny, twinkling lights flickering in the dark sky above them. That strange feeling swirled in Aram's belly again; right there in that moment, all he wanted was to be able to sit there with her forever...

'Hey,' a distinctly unimpressed voice called out from behind them, making them both jump; 'you're not supposed to be out here.' Aram and Samar both winced, recoiling from each other in an instant.  
'Uh oh...' Samar muttered under her breath. Aram wasn't even sure he wanted to swivel on the log and face the teacher marching towards them. The look on the his face was bound to be thunderous.

Samar warily rose to her feet from the log and Aram did the same, bowing his head as he did so.  

They were caught, and by the teacher who was likely to make the worst possible assumption and report it back to their parents too.  

/*/*/*/*

**_May 1998_ **

'We could go there, you know,' Samar mused; 'before we leave...' She trailed off, eyes crinkling at the idea left hanging tantalisingly in the cool night air between them.  
'No.' Aram hurriedly shook his head. 'I don't want to do it for the hell of it. Making love is supposed to _mean_ something. It's significant, especially the first time. I don't want it to just be some kind of hail Mary before we leave that we think we need to do to stay together.' Samar tilted her head, shooting him a wry smile.  
'That's not what I meant.'  
'I know...' The look on Aram's face turned sheepish. 'I just... We're in a small town and we're off to big colleges. We can try to do things long distance, but what if you find someone better than me when you get there?'  
'I doubt that,' Samar laughed softly. Aram simply shrugged.  
'It's possible.'  
'Then maybe you'll find someone at MIT that you like better than me,' she teased. Aram rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.  
'That definitely _won't_ happen,' he chuckled. He tipped his head to her, dotting a slow, soft kiss to her cheek.    
'You won't know until you get there,' Samar countered, albeit only gently, 'if you can insist that there's nobody else out there that you'd be even slightly interested in, then so can I.' A split second later and the teasing smirk softened though; Samar ran gentle fingertips along his cheek, leaning her forehead against his while she whispered; 'But if you want to wait, I can wait.'  
'It's not that I don't want to...' Aram quietly trailed off, not really sure how to say what he wanted to say. It was all too tempting, with his arms wrapped around Samar nestled into his side, and her teasing voice whispering softly in his ear.    
'...You just want it to feel right,' Samar finished for him, breaking into a small, knowing smile. A wave of relief instantly washed over Aram at the fact that she understood. Having to leave each other behind was something neither of them wanted to do. It was an anxiety that swirled around in the back of both their minds constantly over the last few weeks as the day drew ever closer... And Aram didn't want that anxiety hampering the all-important moment when it finally happened. He wanted to go there and he knew she definitely did too, but they both wanted it to be special. Aram wanted his focus in that moment to be solely on how much he loved her, just as it was right now.  

Except once again, all either of them wanted right there in that moment was simply to sit with one another on that rickety old swing, holding each other close, staring up at that twinkling sky, and contemplating the world around them forever. Perhaps, if they managed to get through the first few months of college before returning home again for the short break in December and they still wanted to go down that path then, they could... But in the meantime, neither of them wanted the current moment to end. Neither of them wanted to leave each other behind in the first place.  

/*/*/*/*

At some point after Samar and Aram managed to tear themselves away from each other, sneak back into their own respective houses, and climb into bed, only to stare at the ceiling for the rest of the night, too deep in thought to get any sleep, the morning finally rolled around.

Even before the sun had finished rising they were both up and out of bed, helping their parents load the last of the bags and boxes into the backs of their cars, ready for early morning flights.  

Samar's flight was first, followed by Aram's just two hours later. It was enough time between the flights that it wasn't worth going to the airport together, but also a short enough gap that there was overlap in packing the car and they could exchange quick, weary glimpses over the fence that divided their front yards.  

There was a sinking feeling in Samar's gut when the clock ticked over and she knew it was time to leave. She idled in the front yard, not quite ready to get in the car. The last few weeks in particular had been such a rollercoaster; between quitting the soccer team a year earlier, finally giving in to her feeling for Aram just before prom, the fallout that happened from the soccer team _during_ prom, and then everything else that happened after that, to a certain degree she couldn't _wait_ to get out of that tiny town and start afresh in a bigger city where she would have far more freedom to be whoever she wanted to be. But on the other hand... She and Aram had been practically attached at the hip since they were eleven years old. Every milestone, schooling or otherwise, had been taken side by side. The terrifying transition from middle school to high school had been together, walking through those huge doors of the new, unfamiliar school building hand in hand. At every graduation, Homecoming dance, and any other school event they could think of, they had gone and sat together. Aram had gone to as many of her soccer matches as possible, and Samar had even talked her parents into letting her take the day off school back in eighth grade to watch him compete in the final round of the state science competition too. In no way did she lack the confidence to travel away and make the college journey on her own, but every step of the way so far they had been there for each other, supporting each other, and it felt wrong for that not to still be the case now. Not to have him by her side all of a sudden felt like part of her was missing.

Hand on the edge of the car door, Samar stared over the fence, waiting to catch Aram's eye. They had said goodbye the night before, just in case, but it still didn't seem enough.  

The second Aram looked up from his own parents' car trunk, spotting that hesitation across her face, Samar began to move. First, it was a brisk walk, then a jog, then a sprint. The short distance didn't need it, but Samar didn't care; she raced forwards, not stopping until impact, throwing her arms around him just as Aram did the same. Her face squashed into his shoulder in an instant, and Aram buried his face in her hair. It took everything Samar had to blink her rebellious tear ducts back into submission before she glanced up again, lingering there just a fraction of an inch away from him.  

'Try not to miss me too much, ok?' She murmured.    
'I can try,' he whispered back. Even Aram's eyes were blinking rapidly, trying to reign in the overwhelming wave of emotion, but he managed a choked laugh and a watery smile all the same; 'no guarantees on success though.'  
'I don't want to go away on this adventure without you...' Her fingertips rested along his cheek again, and she leaned in closer. Samar's lips landed on Aram's, kissing him deeply. Neither of them wanted to stop, not even to breathe. Aram's arms wound around her, holding her close, until that need for oxygen forced them finally to draw breath. But still they lingered there, foreheads leaning softly against one another, as both of them made the most of that last moment to take each other in before she was pulled away. They took in the smell of shampoo, the warmth of soft skin against soft skin, the tangling of dark curls around fingertips, and the feeling of new stubble beginning to grow along the edges of Aram's cheeks now that he longer had to be clean-shaven for school. The soft spikes prickled Samar's skin; her fingertips first and then her own cheeks as she leaned in, adding one final kiss to his lips. All of a sudden, Aram seemed far more man than the boy she had first met the day her family moved in next door. It was a different, and unexpectedly enjoyable feeling... Only adding to the sensation of just how much time had passed since those early days.

Finally, Samar's parents were forced to interject, calling her back to the car so that she wouldn't miss her flight. Aram paused in his own loading of the car, just long enough to watch her drive away... Not unlike the day he had first watched her arrive next door.  

They would see each other again, they had no doubt. Once caught up in unpacking, decorating dorm rooms, getting stuck into classes and studying, the time would fly by and deep down, they both knew it. All they had to do was get through it, and then they would be home, side by side once again.  

And so one adventure ended, and the next adventure began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it, folks. Another fic; complete. Thanks for reading!


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